Sideways

Back in the 1960s, Bill Strickland was a listless teenager but life as he knew it was about to change forever.

One afternoon, while skipping class, something caught his eye - the door to one of the art rooms was ajar and he could hear the whirring of a potters wheel. Stopping a moment to take a look, Bill beheld a sight that would change the course of his life. At the wheel was a ceramics teacher, Mr Frank Ross, spinning a lump of clay into a beautiful bowl. He was witnessing a profound metaphor - he could make his life into something beautiful as Mr Ross made bowls from clay.

Mr Ross had lit a fuse within Bill. He went onto university and eventually set up the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, an afterschool arts programme in his neighbourhood of North Side, Pittsburgh. The programme is designed to intercept the often difficult lives of teenagers in the area, to put them on a path toward a positive future with the help of inspirational teachers.

And it works. Thousands of kids come through the programme each year and Bill’s work has been recognised by the White House, among others.

Matthew Syed explores how teachers have the power to transform the world, one student at a time. It’s a big responsibility taken seriously by the likes of history teacher Shalina Patel. Shalina goes beyond the textbooks to engage her students.

Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore explains why adolescence is such a formative time in terms of brain development and suggests we reconsider the way we talk about and teach teenagers.

Presenter: Matthew Syed

On a January night in Manhattan, a team of lawyers is working to crack open an organised crime case. And at the centre of it all, is Eunice Carter - the first black woman to graduate from Fordham Law and the first African-American woman to pass the New York state bar.

Matthew Syed tells the story of how Carter’s brilliance and meticulous attention to detail blew open a case that would bring down the most notorious mobster - Lucky Luciano - and he explores the experience, the pressure and the role of being "a first".

With Yun Li and Marilyn Greenwald, authors of the biography Eunice Hunton Carter: A Lifelong Fight for Social Justice;

Presenter: Matthew Syed

Boston, Massachusetts, 1985. Dr Joe Upton is struggling to reattach a severed ear onto a little boy. Using incredible skill and the best in modern equipment he re-attaches the arteries, but the veins are proving difficult. Blood keeps getting congested and the little ear is turning black. Just when it looks like all is lost, Joe remembers leeches.

Once used to treat every malady imaginable, the vampiric worms fell out of favour when we gained a better understanding of how the body works. But, Matthew Syed wonders, did the medical backlash against leeches go too far, squandering the ancient wisdom contained in the worm?

In seeking to find out what other potentially useful cures have been consigned to history, Matthew learns about an Anglo Saxon recipe for an eye balm which uses garlic and bovine bile and may have MRSA busting qualities. He learns how the chants and charms accompanying such potions had incredibly practical purposes but why the newly professional doctors of The Enlightenment were keen to deride homespun medicine as quackery.

Matthew draws out why we dismiss certain knowledge and experience in favour of modernity and progress and asks what we risk losing as a result.

With Microsurgeon Dr Joe Upton, Carl Peters-Bond of Biopharm Leeches, Micro-biologist Dr Freya Harrison of Warwick University, Nottingham University Anglo Saxon expert Dr Christina Lee and 18th Century Medical historian Dr Kathryn Woods of Goldsmith’s University.

Presenter: Matthew Syed

Lee Chambers is an undeniable success. From his parents' single bedroom, with the boiler humming away day and night, he founds an e-commerce video games business that gives him a healthy bank account in seven months. Next comes the car, the house, the fancy holidays with his wife. But all the time, Lee feels like a total failure. Everyone is telling him he’s a success, but he can’t see it. He’s on the verge of being overwhelmed, until his body intervenes to stop him in his tracks.

In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed asks us to question the myths we’re fed about success and redefine its meaning for ourselves. Is it always about working harder? Can we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, or, actually, do many more of us need a leg up from others? Matthew explores the way toxic myths about successful entrepreneurialism are sold to us, which often ignore the uneven access to risk-taking and the importance of timing. With philosopher Dr Gwen Bradford, of Rice University, Matthew asks us to reconsider what achievement really means. And, ultimately, asks us to create a healthier approach to what it takes to become successful.

Presenter: Matthew Syed

At a school assembly, 16-year-old Simon Day discovers an acute fear of public speaking. Faced with a crowd of expectant faces, panic begins to set in.

Soon, Simon finds that words fail him at almost every turn, threatening his career, relationships and, ultimately, his happiness.

Matthew Syed follows Simon’s journey to find his voice, uncovering the science of how we speak and the complex factors that leave us lost for words.

With Joe Moran, author of Shrinking Violets: The Secret Life of Shyness; psycholinguistics expert Dr Alissa Melinger; and former palliative care consultant Dr Kathryn Mannix, author of Listen: How to Find the Words for Tender Conversations.

Presenter: Matthew Syed

Arlene Blum has scaled some of the most treacherous peaks in the Himalayas. When she’s not climbing mountains, she’s fighting to get toxic chemicals banned from everyday household goods. Arlene says that her experience leading expeditions has helped her acquire the personal skills and attributes required to push through bold new science policies.

Matthew Syed asks whether transferable resilience from one field to another is the secret to reaching the top not just once, but throughout our lives.

Arlene is not alone in her experience. Riteesh Mishra, a retired pro-footballer turned coach and talent manager, is a big advocate for “dual careers". Likewise, Professor Julia Richardson has led a study looking into how sportspeople can adapt their skills to second careers, drawing on their experiences in one area in order to excel in another.

Living a dual life as a mountaineer and a chemist has equipped Arlene with resilience and determination, but there’s something else that’s led Arlene to the top, and that’s the ability to question the ways things have always been done. Professor Steven Nadler, a philosopher specialising in early modern philosophy, says that Arlene can be considered a modern heretic. Do we need a bit more heretical thinking to get to the top of our own mountains?

Presenter: Matthew Syed

Matthew Syed introduces the new series, which focuses on endurance, courage & resilience.

Matthew Syed has come to a horrible realisation about himself. He is in danger of becoming a big head. He’s worried that, with a successful podcast and best-selling books, every positive affirmation he receives is only serving to inflate his sense of entitlement.

The Greeks had a word for this - hubris.

In the final episode of this series, Matthew is on a mission to prevent his tragic downfall by exploring the line between over-confidence and useful pride, asking whether, with the right conditions, we could all be at risk of hubris - or whether it’s just him. He’ll explore how to spot and prevent hubristic leaders, remedies to this kind of arrogance and how we can access good confidence.

With Eugene Sadler-Smith, Professor of Organisational Behaviour, University of Surrey; Joey T Cheng, Assistant Professor of Psychology, York University; Alessandra Tanesini, Professor of Philosophy, University of Cardiff.

Presenter: Matthew Syed

When the Danish men’s football team are called up to replace Yugoslavia in the 1992 European Championships, just 10 days before the start of the tournament, nobody fancied their chances, least of all the players themselves.

Presenter: Matthew Syed

When Amrou Al-Kadhi steps into a pair of heels and takes the stage, they step into another world, another persona where they can be whatever they want.

In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed asks whether creating an alter ego is the key to finding our true self.

For Amrou Al-Kadhi, performing as their drag alter-ego, Glamrou started out as an escape. Struggling with mental health issues, feeling like they had to suppress their femininity in some contexts, their Arab identity in others, it was a relief to take a break from it all and get into the mindset of a fearless woman who didn’t give a damn. But soon, Glamrou became so much for than an act.

As Matthew discovers, alter egos might start out feeling like role play, but they have the power to transform us in profound and lasting ways. And it turns out that some of the most successful people around have used them to get the edge, from Beyoncé to Rafael Nadal.

But the benefits of alter egos aren’t limited to the stage or the sports field. Studies show that even children can benefit from taking on alter-egos, and you might just find there are already things you do to harness other identities and shift your perspective when the moment calls for it.

With screenwriter, author and drag performer Amrou Al-Kadhi (drag name Glamrou), author and coach, Todd Herman, and Ethan Kross, Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Michigan and the director of the Emotion and Self Control Laboratory.

Presenter: Matthew Syed