Self Improvement Wednesday

Ever wondered why some pieces of music make you feel just so amazing you can't quite describe the feeling? Your teacher is Professor Emery Schubert, leader of the Empirical Musicology Lab at the University of New South Wales.

On Self Improvement Wednesday, Dr Brett Summerell dives into Myrtle Rust, a plant disease which has spread rapidly around Australia in just over a decade.

Two sightings of the Pygmy Blue Whale off Maroubra last year, but it's not the first time these mysterious creatures have been seen in our own blue backyard.

In Self Improvement Wednesday, how Australian Flora is helped along by fire and smoke.

The departing director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Liz Ann Macgregor, on the work of artist, Dale Harding, of the Bidjara, Ghungalu and Garingbal peoples.

Ever wondered how on earth we managed to train our favourite furry friends to do both fun and very important things?

Turns out the accepted methodology for training man's best friend hasn't always been the same. Your teacher Dr. Kersti Seksel, vet, animal behaviourist and Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland takes you on a short journey through the history of dog training.

A small group of Ngarigu people and academic colleagues have been working hard to revitalise an ancient snow making song, sung on Ngarigu Country at Kunama Namadgi (the Snowy Mountains). It was once observed and written down by the nineteenth century explorer John Lotsky, and your teacher this week, Professor Jakelin Troy, Ngarigu woman and Director of Indigenous Research at the University of Sydney, tells of her revitalisation and performance of the ancient corroboree - and its intriguing result.

Does language influence how we think? Could it affect your conception of time, or the colours you see, or even your ability to count?

These questions are at the heart of what’s called the theory of linguistic relativity, sometimes known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Your teacher is Tiger Webb, the ABC’s Language Specialist.

You might be used to the idea that advertising revenue funds much of the media we access – newspapers, magazines, radio, television, digital media and more. But advertising is increasingly funding everyday public facilities and services in our cities – like buses and trains, bus stops, street signs, public toilets, and even road repairs. Your teacher Kurt Iveson, Associate Professor of Urban Geography at the University of Sydney takes us through the branded city and its impacts.