Appearance Matters: The Podcast!

Welcome to our 2025 Summer Short Series! We're back with bitesize episodes showcasing recent work from our team at the Centre for Appearance Research! In this episode, we are joined by Emma Waite, Research Fellow at CAR, who tells us about her recent paper entitled: “Make sure that everybody feels there is a space for them”: Understanding and promoting appearance inclusivity at university." Emma discusses this qualitative piece of work and what it tells us about how we can improve appearance inclusivity in universities in a meaningful way. To read the full paper follow this link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1740144524001311 Cover image by Nada via Unsplash Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: the podcast! In this episode, Maia speaks to Ginny Ramseyer-Winter, an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, and Savannah Roberts, a PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh. This episode focuses on appearance and body image through the lens of sexuality, sexual health, and gender. Tune in to hear a great discussion reflecting on the role of appearance ideals and body image in the context of sexual health and relationships, appearance norms across different sexualities and genders, and the importance of intersectionality. To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us: • On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/ • On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch Cover image: Igor Rand via Unsplash Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton

Nadia, Kirsty and Harriet from CAR talk about an exciting project focused on boosting young children's body image. Links: Blippi's Wonderful Talent Show on Neflix https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81910281 Blippi's Wonderful Talent Show on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h281Ojvs0Bc Research Papers Protocol: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20869-z Outcomes: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2025.101851 Nadia's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadia.craddock/ Nadia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadia-craddock/ Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed & produced by Nadia Craddock

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! This month’s episode focusses on a project aimed at providing peer support for young people with cleft lip and/or palate. Abbi is joined by Kenny Ardouin, a speech language therapist and lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. As part of his PhD, Kenny has been involved in running a youth camp for children with cleft aged 10-18. In the episode, Kenny discusses his research background, how this project came about, the practical implications of running a camp and evaluating the camp’s impact on the campers’ wellbeing. Thanks for listening! Episode links: • Kenny's website: www.kennyardouin.com • Paper (open access): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10556656251329297 • Camp resources (freely available): https://kennyardouin.com/supplementary-materials/ • Previous episode featuring Kenny: 58. Expanding Support for Adults with a Cleft Lip and/or Palate https://soundcloud.com/appearance-matters/expanding-support-for-adults-with-a-cleft-

Maia speaks to CAR's own Christine Ramsey-Wade (Associate Professor in Counselling Psychology) about her PhD exploring whether mindful eating programs can be beneficial for people experiencing disordered eating. Maia and Christine discuss the research, reflect on the PhD process, and even practice a mindful eating exercise together. Content warning: Mindful eating exercise starts at 28:52 If you’re currently in recovery for anorexia, the mindful eating exercise focuses on sensations around your stomach which may be triggering and so this exercise might not be for you. To find out more about mindful eating or try some exercises yourself: The mindful eating mini meditation: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/resources The mindful eating micro-intervention created and trialled during Christine's PhD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih1gQTIdvNU To access the ED support app for Eating Disorder self-help: https://www.expertselfcare.com/eating-disorder-support-app/

This Girl Can turned 10 this year so to celebrate, we are sharing an episode from deep in our archive (ep 20!!) on exercise and body image with with Tanya Joseph - architect of Sport England's 'This Girl Can' Campaign and body image & body functionality researcher, Assistant Professor Jessica Alleva. To find out more about CAR: www.uwe.ac.uk/car Follow CAR on Twitter: twitter.com/car_UWE For more on 'This Girl Can': www.sportengland.org/our-work/women/this-girl-can/ WATCH 'This Girl Can' Ads: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZoXyIxqFRc www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsP0W7-tEOc Follow Tanya Joseph on Twitter: twitter.com/tanyajoseph For more on Jessica Alleva: www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/jessica.alleva twitter.com/JessicaAlleva Episode written & produced by Nadia Craddock, reviewed by Phillippa Diedrichs (Associate Professor at CAR)

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 m.morgan16@unimail.derby.ac.uk 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 wou

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.

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 Appear

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=17162

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.

April is Autism Acceptance Month so Nadia speaks with Phaedra Longhurst - an autistic PhD student at Angelia Ruskin University. The Links to Phaedra's Papers: Scoping Review: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2023.102170 Positive body image in autistic adults interview study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.101655 BAS-2A: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101706 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 If you've enjoyed this episode, please do share it with someone else who might also and we'd love it if you could take a minute to rate and review the pod! Thank you! x Episode developed and produced by Nadia Craddock.

Find out more about Body Confident Sport - two new body image programmes designed to support girls in sport settings. Nadia speaks with Dr Emily Matheson, Dr Kat Schneider, Dr Courtney Boucher, and Dr Nicole LeVoi to hear more have this 3-year project from conception to dissemination. Body Confident Sport Website: https://www.bodyconfidentsport.com Centre for Appearance Research Website: www.uwe.ac.uk/car Tucker Center Website: https://www.cehd.umn.edu/tuckercenter/ Papers: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.06.012 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.06.013 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.05.002 https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2023.2212023 https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2023.2258379 https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2023-0035 Episode developed and produced by Nadia Craddock.

For our February episode, Abbi finds out all about Alopecia. Alopecia means hair loss and it can affect any or all areas of the body, and can be temporary or permanent. We are joined by three guests. Firstly, from CAR, we have Research Fellow Dr Kerry Montgomery and Senior Lecturer – formerly Senior Research Fellow at CAR - Dr Fabio Zucchelli. We are also joined by Sue Schilling, CEO of Alopecia UK, a national charity aiming to improve the lives of those affected by alopecia. Alopecia UK: https://www.alopecia.org.uk/ Men's Chat Short Film: https://www.alopecia.org.uk/mens-chat-a-short-film Papers discussed: Men’s experiences of alopecia areata: A qualitative study https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20551029221121524 Patients' experiences of primary healthcare and dermatology provision for alopecia https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ski2.324 Establishing the financial burden of alopecia areata and its predictors https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ski2.301 Please

This month, we are joined by Christia Huntington, a third year PhD student at the Centre for Appearance Research, who tells us all about her PhD looking into online support for people affected by burn injuries. HealthTalk Burn Injuries module – www.Healthtalk.org/Burn-Injuries Dans Fund for Burns - https://dansfundforburns.org/ Take part in Christia's research - https://uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2u81WX44Tu4Msp8 Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot. Thank you! x Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Cover photo by Olena Yakobchuk from Shutterstock Episode developed & produced by Abbi Mathews