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Jean McDonald

When you start thinking a lot about your past, it becomes your present and you can’t see your future

14/03/2024

Questioning his participants about their behaviour, Ahammer found that the Austrians' perceptions of the dangers associated with drinking changed dramatically as they passed their sixteenth birthday. "When alcohol becomes legal, teenagers perceive it to be much less risky than before," Ahammer says. At 16, that false sense of security could be dangerous, whereas at 21, the more mature brain is somewhat better equipped to handle its drink.

Nor does the idea of a healthy European drinking culture hold true over a lifetime. According to the World Health Organization, data indicates that half of all alcohol-attributable cancers in the European region are caused by light and moderate alcohol consumption.

13/03/2024

Equally important are the changes occurring within the skull. In the past, neural development was thought to stop in our early teens, but a swathe of recent research shows that the adolescent brain undergoes a complex rewiring that does not end until at least the age of 25.

The most important changes include a decline in "grey matter" as the brain prunes away the synapses that allow one cell to communicate with another. At the same time, white matter – long-distance connections known as axons covered with an insulating fatty sheath – tends to proliferate. "They are like the brain's super-highways," says Lindsay Squeglia, a neuropsychologist at the Medical University of South Carolina. The result is a more efficient neural network that can process information more quickly.

12/03/2024

From the myth of Europeans' "healthy drinking culture" to the surprising harm of some common family traditions, science is overturning old beliefs around alcohol and young people.

I turned 18 the day before I left home for university, conveniently passing the UK's age threshold for buying alcohol just in time to explore student pubs and bars. When I signed up with a doctor near my new home, she asked how many units of alcohol I drank each week – a common way to measure alcohol intake here in the UK, with 1.5 units roughly equalling a small glass of wine. "Around seven," I said, quickly totting up the few covert vodkas-and-orange that I'd enjoyed on nights out with my friends from school. I thought this was low, but I'd never been much of a rule-breaker.

11/03/2024

It's a very powerful technique for people who are their own worst critics. If you find yourself thinking repeatedly that you are bad at your job, unattractive, or unlovable, you can consciously note that this is your inner critic speaking, without getting too caught up in the thoughts or taking the criticisms too seriously.

We can think of our brain as similar to a sushi conveyor belt: it presents a constant stream of dishes that travel past us. Some of them look attractive and some do not. We do not have to pick every single one up and eat it. The acceptance part in ACT is to learn to let the less nourishing dishes float past us without engaging.

In your career as a cultural historian, you've also examined the history of self-help. What ancient techniques can people use to complement the principles of ACT?

We can use ancient Stoic philosophy to manage our expectations. There's a beautiful phrase from Marcus Aurelius that says "Only a madman goes out to look for figs in winter". It captures the idea that a lot of us have very unrealistic expectations of life in general and also of our inner life. If our expectations are wrong we can only get disappointed. We seek, for example, to cherry-pick the good emotions, and get rid of the ones that we don't particularly like, so that we can be happy all the time. This isn't helpful, because our feelings will naturally fluctuate.

08/03/2024

In the past, the boundaries between work and leisure were more clearly drawn, but now, with modern technology we're always connected. Unless we are highly disciplined, we find it very hard to switch off from work and not to check emails or Slack messages. This means that our thoughts revolve around work all the time.

What are the leading triggers for burnout?

Research shows that the top six reasons for burnout are excessive workloads, insufficient autonomy, inadequate rewards, breakdown of community, mismatch of values, and unfairness.

07/03/2024

More than a third of adults report feeling fatigue most or all of the time, while diagnoses of burnout are at an all-time high. What is leading us to feel so exhausted? And how can we develop greater resilience?

To find out, science writer David Robson spoke to Anna Katharina Schaffner, a cultural historian and executive coach specialising in burnout. Her new book, Exhausted: An A-Z for the Weary, examines the history and science of exhaustion, and offers evidence-based advice to cope with the stresses that life throws at us.

06/03/2024

After the first pilot bombed, the writers came up with a new recipe, in which each of the characters shows what they're feeling through their mood and their energy. So in the new pilot, there's a scene where two of the physicists meet this beautiful woman Penny for the first time, and all they can say is "Hi", "hi", "hi". But each time they say "hi", they say it in a different way. They change the mood, they change the energy, and [suddenly] you know exactly what they're feeling. At first, they're excited, and then they're feeling really embarrassed, and then they're feeling like they need to like retreat – even though the words don't change. Just because their mood and energy changes, we, as the audience, know what they're thinking and feeling. And the same thing is true of any conversation that occurs.

05/03/2024

Most importantly, they recognised that there are different kinds of conversations. Most of us think that a discussion is about one thing. We're talking about my day at work or my kid’s grades. But actually, every discussion is made up of different kinds of conversations, and most of them fall into one of three buckets. There are practical conversations, where we're making plans or solving problems. There are emotional conversations, where I'm telling you how I'm feeling, and I want you to listen and empathise. And then there are social conversations, which are how we relate to each other and the social identities we carry with us. Sievers found that supercommunicators are so effective because they pay attention to what kind of conversation is occurring. And then they matched the other people in their group, and they invited those people to match them in return. So they were all having the same kind of conversation at the same time.

28/02/2024

A rich, deep conversation can be wonderful, yet feels rare in day-to-day life. Whether it's with your partner, family or a colleague, it's easy to find yourself talking at cross-purposes or unintentionally falling into pointless disputes, without ever understanding one another.

How can we avoid these pitfalls? To find out, science writer David Robson spoke to author Charles Duhigg about his new book, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.

How do you define a supercommunicator?

So I have a question. If you were having a bad day, and you wanted to call a friend, and you just knew that talking to this person would make you feel better – does someone come to mind?

26/02/2024

An angry mob in Pakistan accused a woman who wore a dress adorned with Arabic calligraphy of blasphemy, after mistaking them for Quran verses.

She was saved by police who escorted her to safety after hundreds gathered. She later gave a public apology.

The dress has the word "Halwa" printed in Arabic letters on it, meaning sweet in Arabic.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan. Some people have been lynched even before their cases go on trial.

Police told the BBC they first received a call at around 13:10 local (08:10 GMT) on Sunday that a crowd had gathered around a woman at a restaurant in Lahore, the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab.

08/02/2024

While it's typically foods like gumbo, charbroiled oysters, po'boys and jambalaya that lure people to New Orleans, lesser known yakamein has been a hot bowl of local comfort for decades. In Baltimore, it's called yat gaw mein, known colloquially as "dirty yak", a brown gravy-based udon noodle dish often mixed with shrimp and found at Chinese takeouts. Throughout the Tidewater region of Virginia, restaurants make a ketchup-based version called yock.

But in New Orleans, the dish's birthplace, yakamein is a street-food staple worthy of more attention. It's a delicious bowl, carry-out box or Styrofoam cup stuffed with spicy spaghetti steeped in beef or chicken broth, Worcestershire and soy sauce, ketchup, and sometimes, hot sauce. The soupy dish also has meat (usually beef, chicken, pork or seafood), is generously spiced with creole seasoning (a blend of paprika, salt, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano and thyme) served over spaghetti and garnished with green onions and a hard-boiled egg. Depending on preference, yakamein can be topped with a bit of extra hot sauce or ketchup for a finishing touch.

25/01/2024

The fight at the frontlines of Covid-19 is being waged in clinics and hospitals around the world. But the success of that fight has, in large part, depended on the effectiveness of the healthcare systems in each country. So far, there’s been a noticeable correlation between a country’s ability to contain the virus and previous rankings of its healthcare system to provide positive health outcomes.

For this report, we looked specifically at the 2019 The Legatum Prosperity Index, conducted by the eponymous London-based think tank, which measures economic and social prosperity policies and conditions based on 12 pillars in 167 nations. The health pillar of the index specifically measures the extent to which people in each country are healthy and have access to the services necessary to maintain good health, including health outcomes, healthy systems, illnesses and risk factors, and mortality rates.

19/01/2024

In March 2015, a woman from Vallejo, California, Denise Huskins, was kidnapped in the middle of the night from her boyfriend's house, held hostage for 48 hours and r***d. However, on her release, as detailed in the new Netflix documentary, American Nightmare, she was not only accused by police of orchestrating the terrifying ordeal, but her case was linked to Gone Girl, the 2014 movie adapted from the best-selling 2012 Gillian Flynn thriller, both by the media, and, allegedly, an investigating FBI agent too. In the film, a sociopathic woman, Amy, (played by Rosamund Pike) concocts an elaborate plan and fakes her own abduction to punish her husband and family.

10/01/2024

In the serene world of Japanese Buddhist monks, life takes on a distinctive form, interwoven with discipline and mindfulness. These monks subscribe to a unique method of meditation, often sitting upright, supported only by a modest cushion. In this position, they uphold a constant state of awareness, embodying the Buddhist quality of prolonged concentration. This approach to faith is just one facet of a monk's lifestyle, which revolves around spiritual dedication and mindfulness.

Their days typically commence with pre-dawn meditation, followed by a simple breakfast composed of vegetarian or vegan offerings. As the sun rises, the monks chant to foster self-awareness and inner peace.

29/12/2023

At this time of year in Scandinavia, as nights grow colder and darker and people gather around fires and cosy tables, the meatball really shines. A classic comfort food beloved by all three Scandinavian nations – Denmark, Sweden and Norway – meatballs are simultaneously an easy weeknight meal for busy families and the kind of dish you'd see on the menu for a large gathering or celebration.

The origin of the meatball is more than a little unclear. According to food historian Nina Bauer, like the pancake, the meatball was invented simultaneously in many countries worldwide, so no one country can lay claim to it. It remains, however, a classic food across Scandinavia, though not without its differences.

27/12/2023

In many ways, the Bosporus Strait that bisects Istanbul is a metaphor for the Turkish city itself. Its predecessor, Constantinople, rose from the Bosporus' banks to become the seat of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, making it the only place in history to have been the capital of consecutive Christian and Islamic empires. Thanks to the strait that it straddles, Istanbul is the only city in the world spanning two continents – a cultural and geographical bridge between East and West.

26/12/2023

Hit the slopes at Cortina, Val Gardena or Mottolino, and you'll quickly become familiar with one of Italy's most iconic winter cocktails: bombardino.

Invented in 1972 by Aldo Del Bò, a ski lift manager in Livigno, bombardino mixes whiskey or brandy and hot zabaione, the Italian version of eggnog, finishing it off with a heap of piped whipped cream. It's the perfect drink to warm yourself after a day on the powder – a "small indulgence", in the words of one Italian writer, "with an invigorating power".

22/12/2023

The Color Purple is a big, brash spectacle, an extravaganza blending the styles of Broadway musicals, Hollywood studio movies and music videos, with a mix of gospel, pop, blues and ballads, all of that coming together smoothly in one exuberant film. Exuberance is an odd choice for the story of a woman abused by her father and husband, and cruelly separated from her sister and her children. But this new iteration – based on Alice Walker's 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and the successful Broadway musical – leans into the hope and triumph of its heroine, Celie.

15/12/2023

Cotechino, a Northern Italian pork sausage flavoured with juniper, cloves and garlic, is the quintessential Italian New Year's Eve dish; stewed with lentils and served at midnight. I've eaten it every winter of my life, but only on New Year's, and never on an early autumn night in the ochre-hued Emilian hills, surrounded by edgy artwork.

Al Gatto Verde's cotechino is a square, ruby-like nugget with a crispy Japanese-style deep-fried crust, dr***d in a vibrant plum-coloured "dragon's blood" sauce. My fork glides through the buttery soft sausage. The bite is velvety and tart, and the familiar New Year's Eve flavours of pork and spices burst through the unexpected yet arresting smokiness.

Smoked. Slow-cooked. Flame-fired. Familiar. These are the dishes at Al Gatto Verde. But Massimo Bottura is right – this is not barbecue. At least, it's not American barbecue known for its smoked meats and carby sides, nor is it primal meat cooked over flame. Al Gatto Verde's Not Barbecue offerings are even a departure from the contemporary Modenese dishes developed in Bottura's three Michelin-star restaurant, Osteria Francescana, in his bistro, Franceschetta58, or for his culinary collaborations with Gucci and Enzo Ferrari.

Helmed by Casa Maria Luigia's Head Chef Jessica Rosval, Al Gatto Verde continues the Bottura tradition of dismantling conventional flavours while following a rigorous "no waste" policy. Like Osteria Francescana's iconic dish "Pasta Pesto in Abstract" – born when one of the osteria's chefs overcooked several kilos of spaghetti with pesto and, after Bottura challenged the staff to repurpose it, the pulpy pasta was fermented into miso and transformed into a zesty layered flan.

Not Barbecue evolved from Casa Maria Luigia's breakfast offering called – surprise – "Not Brunch". "We've been working with fire since we opened Casa Maria Luigia to recreate the breakfast my grandmother cooked when I was a kid on Christmas day," explained Bottura. "In 2020, when we reopened after lockdown, we created a special brunch."Casa Maria Luigia's idyllic country setting was, naturally, the perfect venue for the Not Barbecue concept. Since Bottura and his wife, Lara Gilmore – entrepreneur and president of Bottura's anti-foodwaste non-profit Food for Soul – opened the guesthouse in 2019, Modena's cab drivers have come to know the road well. "They're giving us lots of business," said my driver as we drove through rolling yellow hills towards the stately cream-colored villa.

The property originally consisted of an 18th-Century carriage house and has since incorporated the adjacent vineyards, surrounding structures and bucolic grounds on which now stand a swimming pool, tennis courts and Gilmore's thriving herb, vegetable and flower garden. As Gilmore led me past rosemary and wildflower bushes, she pointed out the smoky mint green colour of every wooden shutter and door. The colour is laced throughout the property, from the walls of the Music Room to the utility sheds to Al Gatto Verde's wood-burning oven.
"We named [the guesthouse] after Massimo's mother," explained Gilmore. "We decided not to call it Villa Maria Luigia but Casa. We wanted to indicate that this was a home away from home."

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