The Appendix

24/02/2021 31 min

Listen "The Appendix"

Episode Synopsis

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body, to find out what it can tell us about our innate capacity for change. In this episode, Kimberley and Xand zoom in on the appendix, long written off as a useless body part. But new research reveals that this worm-shaped part of our digestive system can actually tell us a lot about human evolution, and the relationship between brain and body.Xand and Kimberley find out the surprising truth about what the appendix actually does, hear how it might be implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, and peep behind the curtains of a nightmare appendectomy.Producer: Dan Hardoon
Executive Producer: Kate Holland
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4

More episodes of the podcast Made of Stronger Stuff

Amygdala 31/03/2022
Wrist 24/03/2022
Ovaries 17/03/2022
Tears 10/03/2022
Dopamine 03/03/2022
Knees 24/02/2022
Sphincters 17/02/2022
Kidneys 10/02/2022
Fat 03/02/2022
Hair 27/01/2022