Friday I'm in Bed

It's Friday I'm Choosing Beavers


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This week we're talking about two things that seem completely unrelated but both come down to the same question: who's selling you something, and should you be buying it?

We start with Harry Styles on Saturday Night Live and the Make America Healthy Again hospital sketch that had us howling. It parodies a hospital where patients are treated with raw milk IVs, LED masks, and full moon ceremonies, and it's very funny. But it also got us into a proper conversation about wellness culture, the pressure women are under to do all the things just to be healthy, and where the line is between helpful and harmful. We're talking about protein obsession, the influencers walking around supermarkets vilifying bread because they can't pronounce an ingredient, and why telling a menopausal woman she's poisoning herself for eating a pudding is not the public service they think it is. Kate calls it the female version of the Manosphere, and honestly, she's not wrong. Unqualified people with big followings giving health advice to vulnerable women who are stressed, time-poor, and looking for a quick fix. We also dig into a Yale study on breast cancer patients and alternative therapies that's been making the rounds. The headlines say complementary medicine kills, but the actual data tells a much more nuanced story, and we break down what it really shows. Spoiler: the issue isn't doing yoga alongside chemo. The issue is skipping chemo for coffee enemas.

Then we move to banknotes. The Bank of England ran a public vote on what should replace the current historical figures on British notes, and the winner, by 60%, was wildlife. Cue outrage. Not because Jane Austen or Alan Turing are leaving, but because Winston Churchill is being taken off the fiver, and apparently that's the definition of woke now. We talk about who actually voted (not us, and probably not the people complaining either), why Kemi Badenoch wants Thatcher on a banknote, why there's never been a Black or ethnic minority figure on a Bank of England note, and whether putting hedgehogs on our money is actually a genius move for dodging political division. Plus we pick our dream animal line-ups, which is honestly the best bit.

Two stories, one thread: when people feel out of control, they're easy to sell to, whether that's a wellness influencer flogging supplements or a political figure flogging outrage. The question is always the same. Who benefits?

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Friday I'm in BedBy Gemma Seager & Kate Beavis