BBC Inside Science
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Radio 4,·18 Jun 2026,·28 mins
Available for 27 days
After this week’s announcement that under-16s will be banned from major social media platforms, we delve into the evidence behind the ban with Professor Amy Orben, Programme Leader of the Digital Mental Health Group at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Catherine Sebastian, Head of Evidence at Wellcome. Also on the show, what can penalty shoot-outs teach us about international diplomacy? And how does the valuation of a football player impact the number of crashes seen after their team plays? Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Bath and football fan, Kit Yates, joins Tom to assemble their very own World Cup squad of science. Presenter: Tom Whipple Producers: Kate White, Katie Tomsett, Keiran Manetta-Jones Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
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BBC Inside Science this week examines the evidence supporting the newly announced ban on under-16s accessing major social media platforms, with contributions from Professor Amy Orben of Cambridge's Digital Mental Health Group and Dr Catherine Sebastian from Wellcome. The episode also explores two sports-science intersections: how penalty shoot-out dynamics relate to negotiation patterns in international diplomacy, and research showing correlations between player transfer valuations and post-match traffic incident rates. Presenter Tom Whipple is joined by Kit Yates, a mathematics professor at Bath University, to construct analytical frameworks around World Cup data.
Read the full story at BBC ↗
Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.
Find out how to listen to other BBC stations
Radio 4,·18 Jun 2026,·28 mins
Available for 27 days
After this week’s announcement that under-16s will be banned from major social media platforms, we delve into the evidence behind the ban with Professor Amy Orben, Programme Leader of the Digital Mental Health Group at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Catherine Sebastian, Head of Evidence at Wellcome. Also on the show, what can penalty shoot-outs teach us about international diplomacy? And how does the valuation of a football player impact the number of crashes seen after their team plays? Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Bath and football fan, Kit Yates, joins Tom to assemble their very own World Cup squad of science. Presenter: Tom Whipple Producers: Kate White, Katie Tomsett, Keiran Manetta-Jones Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Read the full story at BBC ↗
BBC announced an under-16 ban on major social media platforms Professor Amy Orben leads the Digital Mental Health Group at the University of Cambridge Dr Catherine Sebastian is Head of Evidence at Wellcome The episode examines evidence behind the social media ban Penalty shoot-outs can teach lessons about international diplomacy Football player valuations impact the number of crashes after team matches Kit Yates is a Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Bath
Read the full story at BBC ↗
- BBC Inside Science episode features discussion on evidence behind the UK's under-16 social media ban with Cambridge and Wellcome researchers
- Episode includes analysis of penalty shoot-outs and international diplomacy, plus mathematical examination of football player valuations and traffic crashes
- Radio 4 broadcast available for 27 days, 28 minutes long, aired 18 June 2026