Unexpected Elements cover image

Unexpected Elements

Don’t be a fool!

Mar 28, 2025
49:29

April 1st is notorious across the globe. Renowned for being a day of practical jokes. And it’s no different here on the BBC World Service.

Mischievous elephants, the secret to fool's gold and one of the biggest scientific hoaxes in scientific history.

From the Magic Circle to the Magic Lab, the psychology underpinning why we humans are so delightfully easy to trick with Professor Gustav Kuhn.

And a question sent in from one of you: if two people eat the same thing for breakfast, does the same thing come out the other end of both of them?

Prepare for a prank or two on Unexpected Elements.

Or as they say in Finland, ‘Aprillia, syö silliä, juo kuravettä päälle’, which translates to ‘April trick, eat herring, drink muddy water afterwards!’

Presenters: Caroline Steel with Camilla Mota and Phillys Mwatee Producers: Harrison Lewis, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, William Hornbrook and Imaan Moin

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