It’s December 2013 and Toni Osborne is struggling, emotionally and financially. She’s five pence short of keeping her electricity on over Christmas. As she heads out into the night to ask her local shopkeeper for help, a homeless man appears and asks for some change. This is Jack Richardson, and when she bursts into tears, it prompts him to give Toni his last five pence. This simple act of giving would alter both their lives in profound ways. In this episode, Matthew Syed explores how the effects of a seemingly small moment of generosity can ripple outwards, with significant consequences. He considers where this impulse to give to other people comes from and why we go out of our way to help others, sometimes at a cost to ourselves. With Felix Warneken, Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan; Dr Michael Rees, kidney transplant surgeon and founder of the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation; and psychologist Scott Kaufman. Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Eliza Lomas Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight Theme music by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

In the 1970s, Sandra Bundy was working hard at her job at the Department of Corrections in Washington DC. She loved her job, but just turning up to work was becoming unbearable.Sandra’s male supervisors kept propositioning her for sex, asking her out on dates and making inappropriate comments. When she reported the problem to her boss’s boss, he tried to proposition her too. As the situation escalated, the language of sexual violence was used.Sandra knew what she was experiencing was wrong, but she didn’t have the words to describe what she was going through, let alone try and seek justice.In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed delves into the history of the anti-sexual harassment movement in the US in the 1970s to understand how finding the right words can help us tackle big wrongs.He’ll discover how culture, politics and the law intersect to bring about new ideas, and how these ideas filter down into our everyday understanding of the world.With Sandra Bundy, philosopher Miranda Fricker, social historian Linda Hirshman, lawyer Arthur Chotin and anthropologist Alex Bentley.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producers: Nadia Mehdi & Pippa Smith Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight Special thanks to: Luke Mullins and Ellen Rolfes Theme music by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

In 2113, a riddle will be solved under the Eiffel Tower. Matthew Syed tells the story of a riddle hidden in the video game Trials Evolution (Ubisoft Redlynx) that became a worldwide treasure hunt that’s yet to be solved, as he considers the role of legacy. Matthew asks how thinking beyond our lifetimes could make life in the present more impactful and might also challenge us to consider how we meet the problems of the future.With Antti Ilvessuo, creator of the riddle, co-Founder and ex-creative director of RedLynx; Brad Kirby, Trials Evolution super fan and expert aka Professor FatShady; Dr Philip Cozzolino, University of Essex; and Kimberly Wade-Benzoni, Professor of Management and Organizations and Center of Leadership and Ethics Scholar at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer and Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Executive Producer: Max O'Brien Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight Sideways music theme by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

In the early 1970s, Al Garthwaite and some friends move in together in Leeds. They’re about to embark on a big experiment.  They’re living communally, sharing clothes, cooking, and housework. But that’s not all. Inspired by that oft repeated phrase, “it takes a village to raise a child”, they’ve decided to share parenting, helping to raise each other's offspring. What follows is an unconventional family but one full of love and care nonetheless. In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed explores their story to think about how we might get more of the good stuff out of family. We hear from Al, and her daughter Shelley, about life in their collective house. Marriage and family historian Stephanie Coontz reveals some surprising facts about the history of the nuclear family while the writer Sophie Lewis pushes us to rethink the ways in which we care for one another.With thanks to contributors Al Garthwaite, Shelley Wild, Sophie Lewis and Stephanie Coontz.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Nadia Mehdi Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight Theme music by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

The story of how Dr William Key and his super smart horse “Beautiful” Jim Key became one of the biggest acts in America, only to disappear into historical obscurity. But not before they made a profound impact on millions of American children, who pledged to always be kind to animals, as a result of witnessing their extraordinary partnership.Dr William Key was a former enslaved man who became a wealthy entrepreneur before turning his hand to patiently training a sickly foal to do maths and spell. They took their act on the road to the delight of millions of Americans and the attention of the American humane movement. Matthew Syed invites us to dive into this extraordinary story of America in a moment of new understanding, and asks us to consider the possibilities offered by our relationship to animals.With Mim Eichler Rivas, Eric Collins, Dr Bill Samuels, Dr Elizabeth OrmerodPresenter: Matthew Syed Producer and Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight Theme tune by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

On Armistice Day 2015, Mel gets a phone call from her son’s school, asking her to come in. When she arrives, she finds the car park filled with ambulances and police cars, emergency services buzzing around. It began with someone fainting in assembly and then, like dominoes, more teenagers began to collapse. Students were sent back to their classrooms, but the outbreak spread, with more and more people feeling dizzy and sick.In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed tells the story of a strange fainting outbreak at a school and delves into these types of events which affect dozens - sometimes hundreds - of people. What looks unexplained turns out to have a fascinating psychological explanation. But, as Matthew discovers, sometimes our desire to explain things can lead to us explaining them away.With Professor Sir Simon Wessely, psychiatrist and epidemiologist at Kings College, London and Dr Johanna Braun, artist and researcher at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Pippa Smith Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight Theme music by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Matthew Syed introduces season five, which looks at being less cynical, family and legacy.

Nicosia, Cyprus, 2018. Kiri Sofocleous sits down to write a Facebook message to a man she has never met. It has been 40 years since Kiri saw her childhood best friend but she has never forgotten her. Could this be the key to reuniting? Matthew Syed tells the story of one woman’s determination to find a beloved friend, lost for four decades due to a move abroad, a political divide and a mislaid address.It prompts him to explore why we make friends and how they influence the rest of our lives, even after losing touch.Professor Catherine Bagwell of Oxford College - Emory University, reveals how playground squabbles equip us with life skills and how making friends can be good for our mental health. Professor Robin Dunbar explains that we are looking for matches from a pre-programmed personal checklist. Building on Dunbar’s Number, the theory that each of us has 150 meaningful relationships, the Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at Oxford University, sorts our connections into circles of friendship.Through Professor William Rawlins, Matthew learns how the friends of our young adulthood help us become ourselves, but ultimately write themselves out of our life story by encouraging us to follow our dreams. Contributors include firm friends Kiri Sofocleous and Sonya Foxsmith, Professor Catherine Bagwell of Oxford College - Emory University, Professor William Rawlins of Ohio University and Robin Dunbar, Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at Oxford University.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Marilyn Rust Executive Producer: Claire Crofton Researcher: Nadia Mehdi Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Music, Sound Design and Mix: Nicholas Alexander. Theme Music: Seventy Times Seven by Iona SelaruA Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Matthew Syed follows the story of Bernice Bennett, a woman driven to uncover the truth behind a treasured family portrait. When Bernice was growing up, she was always told how much she looked like her grandmother, Mattie Kemp Alexander. Looking at her grandmother’s portrait, she saw her own eyes looking back. This woman’s face was familiar, and yet Bernice knew so little about her. Feeling the call to know more, Bernice set out on a journey to uncover the stories of her family tree.Through the course of her investigations, Bernice uncovers the traumas etched into her family’s past and is drawn into America's legacy of slavery. Her discoveries are painful, but they also lead to some surprisingly joyous new relationships and renewed understanding of her own identity. So why do we search for the secrets of the past, when we know how much the truth may hurt? Genetic Counsellor Brianne Kirkpatrick talks about how people might prepare themselves for what they could find in their family histories, and genealogist Nicka Sewell-Smith explores how the traumas experienced by our ancestors can ripple through to the present day. Contributors: Brianne Kirkpatrick - Genetic Counsellor Nicka Sewell-Smith - Genealogist Bernice Alexander Bennett - GenealogistPresenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Sandra Labady Executive Producer: Claire Crofton Researcher: Nadia Mehdi Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Music, Sound Design and Mix: Nicholas Alexander Theme Music: Seventy Times Seven by Ioana SelaruA Novel production for BBC Radio 4

In 1980, underdog English table tennis player John Hilton stunned audiences with his style of play, effortlessly confounding talented European opponents.In this episode of Sideways, Matthew puts his tactics under the microscope to discover how Hilton used deception to fool his opponents, and use their strengths against them. Deception in sport, Matthew argues, is not underhand, so long as it’s within the rules - and it’s everywhere. With the help of sports psychologist Dr Robin Jackson and goalkeeper Chloe Morgan, Matthew examines the high velocities and ultra-fast reaction times of elite sport which make deception so prevalent, and effective.And he charts the rise of data analysis in British sport, from its strange origins on the football terraces to today’s high tech data collection and teams of analysts. Swathes of data mean today’s athletes can set out more informed than ever about their opponents. But as Matthew discovers, this doesn’t necessarily make them immune to deception. In fact, it could make them more vulnerable.With former European table tennis champion John Hilton; Dr Robin Jackson, reader in Sport Psychology at Loughborough University; Crystal Palace Women’s Goalkeeper Chloe Morgan; Statistician Richard Pollard; and Maria Konnikova, journalist and author of The Confidence Game.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Pippa Smith Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight Theme music by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4