Best Calorie Counter Podcasts (2025)

1
How airports took off 49:03

18d ago49:03

49:03

Airports: at their most basic level places to fly from to reach destinations near and far. And yet so much more. Iszi Lawrence and guests take a look at the evolution of airports, from their beginnings as military airstrips to the modern-day behemoths with their luxury shopping outlets, gardens and art galleries. The early European airports were mo…

1
Libraries in the digital age 49:27

2M ago49:27

49:27

What is the purpose of libraries in the era of the internet and AI? Whether at a school or in a community, libraries used to be key providers of information and enjoyment for many. But now, in a digital age, more books and periodicals are available online than even the biggest library can hold. If terabytes of text can now be stored on a single lap…

1
How the US dollar came to dominate the world 49:27

3M ago49:27

49:27

From Colombia to Vietnam and beyond, the US dollar is the currency in which much of international business is conducted, and which many people outside the US use as a means of exchange and a store of value. So how did a country with just over 4 percent of the world’s population come to dominate global banking and trade? When the position of the US …

1
The seductive dance of charisma 49:27

4M ago49:27

49:27

Where do charismatic personalities come from? Are they people born with special or even divine gifts? Or have they simply mastered a few effective techniques for cordial social interaction that anyone can learn? As business, entertainment and politics increasingly turn into popularity contests conducted through social media and TV, charisma seems t…

1
The rise of fans and fandom 48:54

5M ago48:54

48:54

When the writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off his most famous literary creation, Sherlock Holmes, readers were so angry that thousands cancelled their subscriptions to the magazine in which the stories appeared. The editor and Conan Doyle himself were overwhelmed with letters from a furious public - fans who instead of accepting the death of th…

1
The enduring allure of jewellery 49:27

6M ago49:27

49:27

Jewellery can enthral us in many ways: it can delight, inspire and uplift us or it can transport us to the place where we acquired it. It can also make us avaricious or jealous. But why? What explains our enduring fascination with shiny metal and colourful stones? Iszi Lawrence is joined by Dr. Emily Stoehrer, Senior Curator of Jewelry at the Bosto…

1
Why sleep sometimes eludes us 49:26

7M ago49:26

49:26

Do you find it difficult to get a good night's sleep? If you do, you are not alone. According to the US National Institutes of Health, between 6 and 30 per cent of adults suffer from insomnia or lack of restorative sleep. Since the establishment of sleep medicine a century ago, we have learnt a lot about the causes of sleeplessness. And yet, as the…

1
The high-speed train race 49:31

8M ago49:31

49:31

The first public run of the Japanese ‘bullet train’, the Shinkansen, on the 1st of October 1964, captured public imagination worldwide. And it wasn’t just the train’s sleek look or its high speed that made the headlines. Behind the train’s futuristic exterior lay a whole host of engineering innovations: new pantographs, automatic signalling, revolu…

1
The diary: A life page by page 48:44

9M ago48:44

48:44

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people found that keeping a diary was one way of reducing stress during uncertain times. They also felt that it was important to chart their day to day experience of a historic moment in world history. Such diaries will be valuable sources in years to come for historians, providing future scholars with a glimpse i…

1
The only way is up: A history of mountaineering 48:39

10M ago48:39

48:39

Humans have always co-existed with mountains, as ancient remains found in glaciers prove. But our interest in them may have been more spiritual or religiously motivated, rather than as a place to go to improve our health and wellbeing. In some cultures today, mountains are still considered to be the home of deities. So when did mountaineering becom…

1
Music on the move 49:25

11M ago49:25

49:25

Many of us remember the first portable music device we owned: a transistor radio, a boombox, a Walkman or perhaps an iPod. We might even recall the songs we played on it. But we might be less aware of how profoundly audio technology developments from the 1950s to 2000s changed the ways in which we consume music and other audio outside of the home o…

1
Counting The Miles: We Walked 76,000 Steps Around Manhattan at The Great Saunter 20:01

11M ago20:01

20:01

Shira and Arielle here! Dropping in for a bonus episode. We walked around Manhattan with The Great Saunter in early May. What's the connection to the premise of this show? Great question. Well, we *counted* our steps. Hit play to listen to us share dispatches from throughout the journey. Things we mentioned: The Great Saunter Serrano Salsa Credits:…

1
The fight for women’s education 49:28

12M ago49:28

49:28

Among all the talk about ‘knowledge economy’ it is easy to forget that universal schooling is a relatively new phenomenon. Mandated first in a few European countries in the 18th century, it did not reach many others until the 20th. And the idea that women have an equal right to be educated frequently encountered stiff opposition, often from the pri…

1
Feeding the world and the Green Revolution 49:26

1y ago49:26

49:26

In February 2024, the renowned Indian geneticist Dr. MS Swaminathan was posthumously awarded the country’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. This was in recognition of the dramatic increase in the yields of food staples, such as rice and wheat, that Indian agriculture experienced under his stewardship of the ‘green revolution’ in the 20th …

1
Etiquette 48:52

1y ago48:52

48:52

‘Always pass the salt and pepper together, even if your fellow diner has asked just for one of them’. That’s the standard advice given by countless dining etiquette manuals, one of the many rules regarding proper manners that have been handed down from generation to generation. But what if some of the rules have become outdated, silly or just wrong…

1
Supermarkets 48:42

1y ago48:42

48:42

Supermarkets: they are ubiquitous yet hard to define, lauded and vilified in roughly equal measures, and in many countries they have a huge influence on what we eat. Technological innovations, big social changes and new shopping habits have all shaped their development and today’s megastores are a far cry from their small-scale ancestors of the 193…

1
Diplomacy 48:51

1+ y ago48:51

48:51

In the 1990s, an advert for a brand of chocolate depicted a sophisticated gathering hosted by the foreign ambassador of an unspecified country. It hinted at a gilded existence of cocktail parties and small talk among influential, wealthy guests. Iszi Lawrence finds out how the stereotype of the diplomatic world compares with the reality of internat…

1
The story of throwaway living 48:32

1+ y ago48:32

48:32

The humble plastic bag is actually a marvel of engineering: it is cheap, light, strong, waterproof and it has conquered the world. In countries where plastic bags have been banned, they are still being smuggled in. The environmental pollution and other problems that discarded plastic can cause has made it a focus of passionate debate. But is plasti…

1
Political parties and us 48:39

1+ y ago48:39

48:39

Political parties come in all shapes and sizes and their ideas are just as varied. But what kind of parties best reflect 21st-century society? How do we, as voters, choose between them at elections? What are their ever-increasing expenses spent on? And - perhaps most importantly - how well do political parties respond to the needs and views of the …

1
What makes a good boss? 48:39

1+ y ago48:39

48:39

We can probably all think of examples of bad bosses – the people who we love to gossip about with our colleagues outside work. And even if you’re lucky enough to have had good experiences of management, you may be familiar with bad bosses from popular culture. But what makes a good manager and how can you inspire people in the workplace? It’s a que…

1
Day 7 16:11

1+ y ago16:11

16:11

By Scott Flear

1
Day 6 15:32

1+ y ago15:32

15:32

By Scott Flear

1
Day 5 10:43

1+ y ago10:43

10:43

By Scott Flear

1
Day 4 15:32

1+ y ago15:32

15:32

By Scott Flear

1
Day 3 11:31

1+ y ago11:31

11:31

By Scott Flear

1
Day 2 15:50

1+ y ago15:50

15:50

By Scott Flear

1
Day 1: App & mindset for weight loss 15:17

1+ y ago15:17

15:17

By Scott Flear

1
The joy and sorrow of roads 48:18

1+ y ago48:18

48:18

Whether we are pedestrians, cyclists or drivers, roads play a crucial role in our everyday lives. But where and how should we build any new ones? What kind of roads do we need? And how did we end up with the ones we have? Rajan Datar talks about the past and present of roads and roadbuilding with anthropologist Traci Ardren from the University of M…

1
Pets and us 48:41

1+ y ago48:41

48:41

For every young American under the age of 18, there are about two cats or dogs receiving free food and lodgings in US homes and that pattern is replicated in many other countries. So why do so many of us keep pets? Why do we name them, consider them part of the family? Companionship, pleasure, status symbol and kinship with all life have been offer…

1
Counter Programming On The Go: We Went to a Counting Crows Concert 14:55

2y ago14:55

14:55

In 2021, we published an episode on Counting Crows. We promised you back then, dear listeners, that if Counting Crows ever went on tour again, we'd make it our BUSINESS to get there to see them. Well, it finally happened. In July 2023, Counter Programming hosts Shira Moskowitz and Arielle Nissenblatt headed to Jones Beach to see Counting Crows live…

1
The evolution of teenagers 49:22

2y ago49:22

49:22

In some ways the 21st century is a very unusual time when it comes to adolescence - a study in the US found that teenagers smoke less, drink less and have less sex than the previous generation. And worldwide young people are coming of age in a digital era, with the dangers and opportunities that represents. Our expectations of teenagers vary hugely…

1
Global mass tourism 49:37

2y ago49:37

49:37

From Bhutan to The Bahamas and Iceland to Indonesia, mass tourism has grown at an unprecedented rate over the last few decades. Today’s top destinations are struggling with the sheer numbers of visitors and the United Nations has called for a total rethink on how the industry operates. The origins of travel for pleasure go back centuries and packag…

1
A deep dive into deepfakes 49:16

2y ago49:16

49:16

Are we in a new age of information warfare? The technology to create deepfakes has progressed steadily over the past decade and enables anyone to create videos of people saying and doing things they didn’t actually say or do. But the idea of manipulating video to spread misinformation is almost as old as film itself. Presenter Iszi Lawrence invites…

1
How the mobile phone changed everything 48:38

2y ago48:38

48:38

When telecoms engineer Martin Cooper first chatted in public on a mobile phone 50 years ago few would have predicted that this brief telephone call would be the start of a revolution that would change the lives of billions. Over the last half a century, the mobile has transformed not just how we communicate with each other but also how we view and …

1
The submarine: Stealth machine 39:19

2y ago39:19

39:19

Given the submarine's importance to many of the world's navies, it's perhaps surprising to learn that for many years it was considered an inventor's folly and of little use in maritime warfare. Indeed the submarine had a difficult birth because of the technical challenges involved in putting a moving vessel underwater, challenges that could only be…

1
Hazel Scott: Jazz star and barrier breaker 41:12

2y ago41:12

41:12

A child prodigy on the piano, then a glamorous jazz and popular music entertainer, a civil rights campaigner and the first black American woman to host her own TV show: for the first three decades of her life, Hazel Scott’s rise to fame was vertiginous. Born in Trinidad in 1920, Scott was the headliner in some of New York’s most fashionable clubs b…

1
The bittersweet tale of cocoa 39:25

2y ago39:25

39:25

Do you like cocoa? You are in good company: in South and Central America people have been enjoying the fruit of the cacao tree - the source of cocoa, chocolate and much else - for thousands of years. Ancient empires fought battles for the control of the best trees, cacao beans were used as currency, and being able to make a tasty cacao drink could …

1
The dam builders 39:27

2y ago39:27

39:27

The Hoover Dam in the US, the Aswan Dam in Egypt and the recently opened, and sumptuously named, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam. Since modern times, huge mega dams like these to tame rivers, create water storage and hydropower, have become a symbol of nationhood used to create national pride and bolster political power, from the Cold War to today.…

1
Alexander the Great or not so great? 39:29

2y ago39:29

39:29

From Persia to India to Greece – they called him The Great – that is Alexander the Great. Also known as Alexander III of Macedon, he was one of the most successful military leaders of all time. Undefeated by the time of his death in 323 BCE, he is still a go-to figure when people want to define an empire builder. But how should we view this often c…

1
Rituals: Our anchors in a changing world 48:48

2y ago48:48

48:48

From coronations to cup finals, many of us love a big event, a ceremony with age-old observances. Indeed rituals, whether public spectaculars or more personal ones, such as a particular daily routine, have been part of human experience since time began. But why do rituals persist even though so many of them seem to serve no obvious practical purpos…

1
Tropicália: the movement that defied Brazil’s dictatorship 42:18

2y ago42:18

42:18

Drawing on traditional music, pop culture, kitsch, rock and modernist poetry to mention just a few of their sources of inspiration, the short-lived Tropicália movement in late 1960s Brazil was provocative and anti-authoritarian. Perhaps most importantly it represented a uniquely Brazilian aesthetic that could only have emerged from that country’s s…

1
How the shipping container changed the world 39:57

2y ago39:57

39:57

Nearly everything we consume is transported by ship. The biggest container ships in the world are among the largest moving structures made by man and can carry over 24,000 20-foot container units. The standardisation of these simple metal containers in the 1950s and 60s marked a turning point in world trade, driving down costs and ultimately fuelli…

1
Neanderthals: Meet the relatives 39:14

2y ago39:14

39:14

Developments in new technology such as DNA sequencing have transformed our understanding of the Neanderthals, one of a group of archaic humans who occupied Europe, the Middle East and Western Asia more than 300,000 years ago. First identified by fossil remains in 1856 in a German quarry, the Neanderthals led an extremely physical existence as hunte…

1
Cavalry and code-breaking: The Polish-Soviet war 39:40

2y ago39:40

39:40

A Russian army stands at the gates of the capital of another country, a country that Russia has previously occupied and one that, according to Russian politicians, has no right to independent existence. Sounds familiar? That capital city was Warsaw and the year was 1920. But what happened in Poland just after the end of World War One bears strong s…

1
How we work: Redesigning the office 39:48

2+ y ago39:48

39:48

The pandemic has made us all rethink how we work. Where once millions of people used to travel into work in tall glass buildings in big cities every day, now our idea of the office has come to include the kitchen table or maybe even a coffee shop. Yet despite the temptation to shift permanently to remote working, many organisations say the events o…

1
When money died: The world's worst inflation 43:41

2+ y ago43:41

43:41

In the summer of 1946 inflation in Hungary reached 41.9 quadrillion per cent. That’s 41.9 followed by 14 zeros – the highest rate of inflation ever recorded anywhere in the world. It meant prices of everyday goods and services doubled, on average, every 15 hours. As the shattered country struggled to get to its feet after World War Two, weighed dow…

1
The writer Rachel Carson who fought insecticide wars 39:02

2+ y ago39:02

39:02

Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring has probably done more than any other to raise concerns about the damage that uncontrolled use of chemicals can cause to the natural world. Carson imagined a ‘silent spring’ in a world where birds no longer sang, killed off by indiscriminate spraying of pesticides. Her plea for caution when using insecticides…

1
Why do we have a seven-day week? 45:09

2+ y ago45:09

45:09

Why do we divide our lives into 7-day chunks? Unlike the day, month or year, there’s no natural reason for this cycle, but nevertheless the week is now deeply ingrained in us and has proven very resistant to change. We explore the pagan, religious and early scientific roots of this man-made rhythm, the ideological battles fought over it, and the re…

1
Forugh Farrokhzad: A trailblazing voice for women in Iran 39:12

2+ y ago39:12

39:12

Forugh Farrokhzad burst into the public consciousness with a series of poems that sent shockwaves through Persian society in the mid-1950s. Her early poetry focused on the female experience and female desire, overturning – in the words of one biographer – 1,000 years of Persian literature. Her critics sought to dismiss her skills as a writer by see…

1
The Cynics: Counter-culture from Ancient Greece 39:35

2+ y ago39:35

39:35

Today’s counter-culture and alternative movements question mainstream norms, such as putting too much value on material possessions. The Cynics, practical philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome, also rejected conventional desires to seek wealth, power and fame. They were not your usual kind of philosophers: rather than lecturing or writing about t…

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