Happy New Year from Appearance Matters: The Podcast! New year, new episode. Today, we are joined by PhD candidate and Associate Lecturer Mia Morgan from the University of Derby, who is conducting a body of research into the benefits of nature connectedness for individuals who are experiencing disordered eating / eating disorders. Mia shares the results of her PhD so far, including a literature review and interviews. Mia is now developing a nature connectedness intervention to support recovery for those with eating disorders.

Learn more about Mia’s research

University of Derby https://www.derby.ac.uk/staff/mia-morgan/

First Steps https://firststepsed.co.uk/training/research-and-expertise/

LinkedIn https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mia-morgan-182998134?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

Email [email protected]

Mia is recruiting people with disordered eating for her final study, which invites people to try out a simplified version of the intervention discussed in this episode. If you would like to take part, or have any questions, please email Mia [Study closes April 2025].

To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us:

• On X: x.com/CAR_UWE

• On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/

• On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch

Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot.

Thank you!

Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com

Cover photo credit - Shane Rounce via Unsplash

Episode developed and produced by Abbi Mathews

This month Maia speaks to local Bristol artist, Gail Reid, and visible difference advocate, Amit Ghose, about a project which focussed on representing visible difference through art. Gail was commissioned to paint a portrait of Amit which was unveiled at CAR's AM10 conference in June 2024.

We discuss the process of Gail, Amit and CAR working together to create the portrait and reflect on the unveiling.

To learn more about Gail's work:

Gail's online portrait gallery and stories behind them: https://www.gailreidartist.com/portrait-gallery

Gail's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/gailreidartist

Gail's Instagram account: www.instagram.com/gailreidartist

To learn more about Amit's work:

Amit's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@amitghosenf1

Amit's Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/amitghosenf1

To see the livestream recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu8SPzjIEZ4

On this episode, Abbi speaks with Dr Nicole Paraskeva and Sharon Haywood, both researchers at the Centre for Appearance Research, about an emerging research area harnessing the power of social media influencers to deliver body image interventions.

Papers discussed:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-56578-1

https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/v83ht

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1740144524000755

Animation mentioned in episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUBS97hZZfs

To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us:

• On X: x.com/CAR_UWE

• On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/

• On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch

Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot.

Thank you!

Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com

Cover photo credit - Oleg Ivanov via Unsplash

Episode developed and produced by Abbi Mathews

On this episode, social psychologist and lecturer at Brighton University Dr Jamie Chan speaks with Nadia about body image and social class.

We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did!

For more on Jamie:

https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/jamie-chan

To read Jamie's Thesis:

https://sussex.figshare.com/articles/thesis/Beyond_resources_how_social_class_contexts_shape_women_s_body_image_in_the_United_Kingdom/25574445?file=45565752

To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us:

• On X: x.com/CAR_UWE

• On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/

• On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch

Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot.

Thank you!

Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com

Cover photo credit - Jessica-Podraza via Unsplash

Episode developed and produced by Nadia Craddock

Welcome back to Appearance Matters the Podcast!

In this episode, we share the recording of one of our Appearance Matters 10 Keynote talks, delivered by Prof. Phillippa Diedrichs. Please note, the sound quality isn't the best as this was a live recording, but we hope it's good enough.

We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did!

To find out more about Phillippa, visit her website:

http://phillippadiedrichs.com

To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us:

• On X: x.com/CAR_UWE

• On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/

• On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch

Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot.

Thank you!

Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com

Cover photo credit - Jessica-Podraza via Unsplash

Episode developed and produced by Nadia Craddock

Welcome back to Appearance Matters the Podcast!

In this episode, we share the recording of one of our Appearance Matters 10 Keynote talks, delivered by Prof. Kathleen Bogart.

Kathleen's keynote was entitled: 'Putting a Face to Appearance Research: Representation of understudied visible differences'. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did!

If you'd like to find out more about Kathleen's work, check out the links below:

- Disability Advocacy and Research Network (DARN) https://darndisability.org/

- Kathleen's Psychology Today blog https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/disability-is-diversity

- Kathleen's journal article on self-relevant research https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00056-x

- Kathleen's recipe blog! https://perfectrecipeproject.blogspot.com/

To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us:

• On X: twitter.com/CAR_UWE

• On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/

• On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch

Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot.

Thank you!

Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com

Cover photo provided by Kathleen Bogart

Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton

Welcome back to Appearance Matters the Podcast!

In this episode, we share the recording of our Appearance Matters 10 Conference panel discussion event, titled ‘Beyond the Selfie: Can Social Media Influencers Shape the Appearance Diversity Landscape?’

Our panel members include:

- Stephanie Yeboah, an award-winning content creator, author and writer.

- Amit Ghose, an advocate for the visible difference community and social media influencer with lived experience of neurofibromatosis/NF1.

- Phyllida Swift, the CEO of Face Equality International, a charity dedicated to ensuring those with visible differences can live freely without indignity or discrimination.

- Dr Amy Slater, a researcher at the Centre for Appearance Research whose work focuses on social media and visible differences.

- Mazviona Madzima, a strategic partner manager at YouTube responsible for some of the platforms largest creators.

- Antony Genova, a brand manager working in advertising at Google.

To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us:

• On X: twitter.com/CAR_UWE

• On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/

• On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch

Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot.

Thank you!

Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com

Cover photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels

Episode developed and produced by Abbi Mathews

A slightly different kind of episode on the show this month. Nadia speaks with Professor Phillippa Diedrichs about her new book for teenagers: The Body Confidence Book!! A mixture of personal stories, science, statistics, and tips and actions for young people curious to learn ways to improve their body image.

To buy the book:

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/body-confidence-book-respect-accept-and-empower-yourself-phillippa-diedrichs/7532618

To learn more about Professor Phillippa Diedrichs:

https://www.phillippadiedrichs.com/

In this month's episode, Abbi speaks with Dr Lise Deguire; a clinical psychologist, public speaker, author and burn survivor.

Abbi and Lise discuss how visible differences are represented within the media, what we as individuals can do to reject negative stereotypes, and the small changes that the media could make for a positive impact.

Sign the Face Equality petition: https://www.change.org/p/tell-hollywood-visible-difference-doesn-t-equal-evil

Lise's Ted Talk, Scarred not Scary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD9KhXQOED8&t=16s

Lise's book, Flashback Girl: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flashback-Girl-Lessons-Resilience-Survivor/dp/1734932007/ref=sr_1_1?crid=BCRBWJH7FPZ5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XqGms3zHI5U5bY-9Lm3KzyJooR6XiJYPZMb1QsLNd2ARQk-2X6PDtCMIcFsAxxH5x7ORSZ85K_X42cgYsdz9KUW4MJgUuWXC8UlP7USPlWEL6Sc0tx9UCtTQ5oWdzKTTlM3SU3ryFw3gdDMht8SP3PkNLVQb-GoVMzLY4l-WDIEUVUYH5F8vdXV3Ck8v8QPowrQDI-HqxiYiMa1b7jRByQGCdsBKAa9fDtF3SnOxIP4.hDLwtlRvi8SEMSEhPJInQpsqd1zNnS3iBxg2NOQWlVI&dib_tag=se&keywords=flashback+girl&qid=1716212230&sprefix=flashback+girl%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-1

Thanks for listening!

In this episode, we are joined by some of the members of the CARE project team. CARE stands for Craniofacial Microsomia: Accelerating Research and Education and is aimed at investigating the psychosocial impact and healthcare burden of Craniofacial Microsomia.

CAR's own Dr Nicola Stock (Associate Professor), Dr Alessia Johns (Paediatric Psychologist, Children's Hospital Los Angeles), Lazer Schefer (Patient advocate), and Amy Schefer (Parent advocate) join Maia to discuss this exciting project and the importance of conducting impactful research into rare conditions.

To find out more about the CARE project or to take part in the research, click here: https://linktr.ee/careforcfm

To keep up to date with the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us on

• X: twitter.com/CAR_UWE

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch

Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton.