Do you really know?

What is Swedish neutrality? Sweden’s neutrality policy is well-known in the field of international relations. It has allowed the country to go over two centuries without being at war. That makes it the nation which has had the longest period of peace. So Sweden isn’t part of any military alliance, and doesn’t take sides when wars break out. Other European countries like Austria and Switzerland also take a similar position, although it’s certainly being put to the test by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.How did Sweden’s neutrality start out? How can Sweden remain neutral while being a member of the EU? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:What is the Ukrainian International Legion?Who is Sonic?What is sign singing?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is conversion therapy? Boris Johnson's UK government on March 31, 2022 dropped its ban on conversion therapies, which claim to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. In the midst of the scandal surrounding pedocriminality within the Catholic Church, conversion therapies have been voted to be banned in France on October 5, 2021. Conversion therapy, also known as homotherapy, is a pseudoscientific practice that seeks to convert homosexuals to heterosexuality, or at least encourage them to be abstinent. Largely pushed by religious groups, this kind of therapy is still growing in Europe and America. The practices are not only ineffective, but can also be dangerous.OK so it’s mainly a thing in religious or conservative countries, is it? So does it actually work? Can you change someone’s sexual orientation? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:What is the Ukrainian International Legion?Who is Sonic?What is sign singing?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the Blue Marble? It’s been fifty years since humans last went to the moon, as part of the Apollo 17 space mission. The mission also brought one of the world’s most iconic and widely reproduced photographs, the Blue Marble. It was taken by one of the crew members using a Hasselblad Data Camera on 7th December 1972 capturing Planet Earth from over 25,000 miles away.How did it get the name? So are you saying no one has managed to take a similar picture since 1972? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:What is the Ukrainian International Legion?Who is Sonic?What is sign singing?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the Ukrainian International Legion? Since the invasion of Ukraine began on 24th February 2022, governments have been reluctant to send troops into the warzone, despite expressing outrage at Russian aggression. Nevertheless, media reports have shed light on the thousands of foreign citizens, mostly men, leaving worried families behind to travel to Ukraine. On the ground, they’re fighting, providing first aid and helping displaced people leave the country. In the days following the start of the invasion, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky created the country’s International Legion and appealed to foreign nationals to join. Where are all these volunteer soldiers coming from? So why are they risking their lives for a war not involving their home country? Are volunteers actually allowed to leave their home country to go to war? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:Who is Sonic?What is sign singing?What is temporary protection?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who is Sonic? As fast and cocky as ever before, Sonic is set to return to cinema screens this week with the release of Sonic 2. We all know that the small blue hedgehog originally started out as a video game star. So just how did the face of Japanese game studio SEGA end up becoming such a major figure in pop culture?Tell me about Sonic the Hedgehog’s beginnings. How was he created? Was the first game well received? How did Sonic manage to survive that setback? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:What is sign singing?What is temporary protection?What are the Minsk Agreements?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is sign singing? Deafness is known for being an invisible disability, which can lead to exclusion and loneliness. According to a Human Rights Watch article from 2019, 70 million deaf people across the world use sign language to communicate. Well sign singers take that one step further, by adapting song lyrics into sign language for the deaf and hard of hearing.How do sign singers translate music? Where does it come from? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:What is temporary protection?What are the Minsk Agreements?What is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is temporary protection? According to United Nations estimates from just over a week ago, more than 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. 3.4 million of them have left Ukraine, with 90% being women and children given that all men under 60 are required to stay and defend their country. It’s been described as the “fastest growing refugee crisis since the Second World War”, by the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees.What rights and provisions does it grant? Is this a new EU policy then? What about refugees from elsewhere? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:What are the Minsk Agreements?What is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome?What is myopia?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are the Minsk Agreements? The main aim of the 2014 and 2015 Minsk Agreements was to prevent war in Europe, but they were repeatedly breached over the years, and eventually became obsolete when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Fighting broke out in Ukraine’s Donbas region in early 2014, opposing pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army.How did the Agreements come to be signed? What was actually in the agreements? Are we saying the Agreements no longer stand then? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:What is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome?What is myopia?What is nuclear deterrence?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who is Alexei Navalny?Alexei Navalny was sentenced on Tuesday 22 March 2022 to an additional nine years in prison after being found guilty of fraud and contempt of court. In late March 2021, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny began a hunger strike in his prison cell. A few weeks later he was transferred to a prison hospital, with his allies declaring he was “close to dying”. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Moscow, St Petersburg and over 40 other cities. Police arrested over 1700 people. At the same time, UN human rights experts called for Navalny to be evacuated from the country. They said his life was in “serious danger” due to harsh prison conditions and inadequate medical care.What can you tell me about Navalny’s background? What’s happened to Navalny since the Novichok poisoning? Will international pressure have any impact? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:What is the Wagner Group?What is the Azov Battalion?What is Crimea?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is an oil shock? The day Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the price of crude oil surged over the $100 a barrel mark for the first time since 2014. Soon, economic sanctions would be announced against Russia, with buyers shunning exports from the world’s third largest oil producing country. For over a century, oil has been both a fuel and a barometer for the world economy. But it can also be a double-edged sword as Western countries found out in the 1970s. At the start of the 1970s, the post-war boom was coming to an end. From 1971 onwards, things started going downhill, and oil ended up being at the heart of an unprecedented economic and geopolitical crisis.How did the 1973 crisis come around? How did the oil-dependent Western countries react? What is the current situation, given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:What is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome?What is myopia?What is nuclear deterrence?A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices