--:-- Ankur Desai: This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. If you've got a move coming up, you really need to look into United Van Lines, the do-it-all moving specialists. With United Van Lines, you don't worry about a thing. You have a dedicated moving coordinator, qualified drivers, and full value protection for your possessions.
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--:-- Ankur Desai: Compare that to a couple of dudes manhandling your family heirlooms or cramming your things in a container on your driveway. Rather than hope for the best, you deserve a hassle-free move. Visit unitedvanlines.com. Big moves, small moves, all moves. Easy choice.
--:-- Ankur Desai: In the shadows and flames, primals will fall and from the blood and ash, new gods will rise. Poppy was never meant to awaken and consequences are devastating. Stirring ancient powers from their slumber, transforming Castile and Kirin in ways the fates couldn't foresee. The great conspirator has returned to stop the primal of death. The gods have awakened, harboring blood-soaked secrets, and every choice can undo everything. The primal of Blood and Bone, perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas and Rebecca Yaros. Available in print, e-book and audio book.
--:-- Ankur Desai: Hello from Malawi, this is the happy post. Hello, I'm Anka Desai and in this edition, how school breakfasts in Malawi are helping children to learn.
--:-- Anka Desai: My greatest joy about the job is seeing the children happy, just happy. We meet the people growing fresh and affordable fruit and veg in Montreal. I'm fortunately gifted to have a family that can't provide themselves with enough food. And that's kind of why I feel I come back year after year, because I like ensuring that other people can have that same security I know I have.
--:-- Anka Desai: Also, I dance even in the bathroom. In the morning, when I get up, I turn on the radio and sing and dance. My feet just start moving on their own. The dance club tackling loneliness amongst older people in Venezuela. And a much-needed lesson in optimism from tortoises.
--:-- Anka Desai: People often say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that can be especially true for schoolchildren, whose concentration and learning can suffer without a nutritious start to the day. One of the charities working to ensure they get just that, Mary's Meals, recently reached a major milestone, feeding 3 million children every day across 16 countries.
--:-- Ella Bicknell: It's just before dawn here at chalanga school for the blind which is malawi's oldest school for visually impaired children everyone is still asleep except in a quiet corner of the site where one of the school cooks is already at work and there's something captivating about the way she stirs this massive pot of porridge using a paddle the size of an oar, only stopping to feed more logs onto the fire.
--:-- Angela Chepeta Konje: For Angela Chepeta Konje, director of Mary's Meals Malawi, the work is more than food. It's about making sure no child is forgotten. We've seen great change. The attendance is increasing, but also just the concentration. We've done our own assessments in the schools where the concentration before the meals is at 30 percent, but after the meals it goes up to 90 percent.
--:-- Chikondi Mafuta: For parents like Chikondi Mafuta, the breakfast programme has been life-changing. Her son Wangani has gone from strength to strength, and later this year he'll represent Malawi at the Disabled Youth Games in Namibia, running the 1,500 metres.
--:-- Harry Bly: To Montreal in Canada now and a mobile food market helping to improve the health of families on low incomes. The multi-calf market is open to everyone, but for those struggling to make ends meet, it sells fresh fruit and vegetables at a loss.
--:-- Justine Shanachal: Often I'll see mums and dads come in with their kids, honestly, just to help them carry around the fruits and vegetables just because they can obviously buy so much. In past years, we've had to limit it. But thanks to the multi-calf team and the donations we've received from outside sources, we've been able to kind of ensure that we have enough fruits and vegetables for everybody, no matter how much they want to take, which has really helped the vibes in the markets, just because people feel like they can do as they please.
--:-- Harry Bly: You've been volunteering since you were 12 and you were introduced to it by your grandparents. So I suppose the big question is, why do you do it? And what about this project in particular brings you joy?
--:-- Justine Shanachal: I really think that this project has taught me the importance of food to people. When I was very young, I didn't really understand what went into preparing a dish, what went into knowing that you could feed your family without any stress really So I think this project has kind of helped me matured and understand what it means to have food security I fortunately gifted to have a family that can provide themselves with enough food. And that's kind of why I feel I come back year after year, because I like ensuring that other people can have that same security I know I have.
--:-- Harry Bly: It's a gratifying feeling. And it's really nice to see people who truly appreciate what we do. And Justine, you're the Microfarm coordinator for multi-calf. Tell me, what does the future look like in terms of stocking these markets with entirely your own produce?
--:-- Justine Senechal: Our farm is still young. It's two years old, so it's still a baby farm. So we're going to be building on growing the production every year until we're able to provide the most we can. Also making the season longer every year, a little bit further into the winter and earlier into the spring to be able to provide longer and also more.
--:-- Harry Bly: Why do you do it? What about this project brings you joy?
--:-- Tarek Sears: Well, personally, I'm someone who loves being outside. So this just makes sense for me to be in contact. It's working with people in the neighbourhood who come and volunteer at the farm and come help out. I'm so thankful for them, But they're thankful to us. And that's always surprising to me. It's so special to have school groups, kids come by and see them learn about where food comes from and get grounded into the local environment. I find that really important.
--:-- Harry Bly: What sort of feedback have you had from not only your volunteers, Justine, at the farm, but also the customers, the people that buy off you and the people that actually survive because of you?
--:-- Tarek Sears: I feel like people are starved for a little green everywhere in Montreal, really, in the big city, in the business of it all. And seeing people come here for the first time and be able to take that breath of fresh air and see their shoulders just relax. My favorite question to ask when I'm at the markets is, what's your favorite vegetable? And that changes so much because it's such a diverse neighborhood and we have so many people from everywhere.
--:-- Professor Michelle Doughty: For me, this has to be one of the best job titles around. It's called Astronomer Royal and as you might imagine from the sound of it, it has a rather ancient pedigree. The title has been around in the United Kingdom for 350 years, making it one of the world's oldest scientific positions and for the first time it's been awarded to a woman.
--:-- Tim Franks: Professor Michelle Doughty spoke to my colleague Tim Franks and began by explaining what exactly the job is.
--:-- Professor Michelle Doughty: The Astronomer Royal was first announced back in 1675 when King Charles II wanted to have a scientist work out how longitude worked, where zero longitude was, so that people could work out where they were going to travel around the world. Right. So it was for navigation by sea. It was for navigation by sea. And to be frank, it's a good thing I wasn't awarded it at those days, because I have no sense of direction whatsoever.
--:-- Professor Michelle Doughty: My excuse is I was born in the southern hemisphere, so the sun is always in the wrong place. But I'm very relieved that it has now evolved into a position which is an honorary position. If the king has any questions on astronomy or space science, he will approach me in the first instance. But I think for me, the bulk of the role will be to engage with the general public, to excite and enthuse them as much as I am about astronomy and space science, but also to give everyone an understanding about how important some of the instrumentation that we build is for building different types of instruments.
--:-- Tim Franks: It'll be good for the UK economy. So when I first moved to the UK, I became involved in building magnetometer instruments. And so what those instruments do is they measure the magnetic field. And I was involved in the Cassini mission to Saturn, and I have an instrument on the JUICE spacecraft that's on its way to Jupiter.
--:-- Professor Michelle Doughty: I never thought as a young kid that I would end up doing something like this. But for me, it's the combination of working with engineers, building the kinds of instruments that we need to tease out the really interesting science that we can't do unless we've got the spectacular instrumentation. So it's the combination of engineering and science for me, collaborating with lots of different people.
--:-- Tim Franks: Best work I've done is when I collaborate with large teams of people. So that's how I got involved in space science and then planetary science and how I've ended up in this role today.
--:-- Professor Michelle Doughty: Yeah, and I mean, putting it in that historical context where you began when, you know, 350 years ago, astronomers were just beginning to work out how perhaps we could sort of navigate by the stars to where we are now and how much more we still have to understand and work out.
--:-- Tim Franks: I mean, it's sort of never stopped being just an utterly fascinating time to be an astronomer, has it?
--:-- Professor Michelle Doughty: Absolutely. I see us as explorers. And you know, the spacecraft mission I'm involved in, we're still exploring our own solar system. Part of what we hope to learn from it will allow us to better understand other exoplanetary systems. But we're on this long voyage of discovery and exploration. As we go, we make new discoveries we didn't think we would, and then we might change direction.
--:-- Tim Franks: But for me, it's part of what humankind does. We want to explore. I'm so excited that this is part of my job.
--:-- Professor Michelle Doughty: I'm sure it's a question that you are dealing with a lot, but you are the first woman to be appointed Astronomer Royal. And it is also the case that unfortunately, although I think the numbers are improving, that women and girls are underrepresented in the sciences.
--:-- Tim Franks: Where do you think we are on that? And how significant do you think, modesty aside, your appointment is?
--:-- Professor Michelle Doughty: In the UK in particular, and that's where I've been for the last 35 years. Things are continuing to improve. When I first arrived here, there were not as many scientists who are women or were women. And I've seen that real change.
--:-- Tim Franks: What it's important, I think one of the reasons why my appointment as a woman is important is it allows younger people today to see someone who looks like them and to think, oh, maybe I could do that.
--:-- Ankur Desai: Coming up on this episode of the podcast. Anyone can visit. What the project is doing is trying to transform every visitor of Poveglia into an inhabitant. How a tiny island in Venice has been saved from developers thanks to a community effort.
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--:-- Ankur Desai: As America's most trusted movers, Mayflower has seen it all. From big dreams and new beginnings to first steps and fixer-uppers. From starter homes to more practical homes. Yes, Mayflower has been there for it all. And will always have your back. Every moment, every move, every step of the way. Schedule your move now by going to mayflower.com.
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--:-- Ankur Desai: Go on, get a little out there into the big heart of Nevada, where you can go off-road and off the map on two lakes or on horseback. Dip into hot springs and dive into deserts. Climb a mountain or make your best effort. See thousands of stars in some of the darkest skies. Stake out haunted hotels. Can you make it to sunrise? There's always something new to see because we've got plenty of space to just be. Plan your trip at TravelNevada.com.
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--:-- Ankur Desai: Hi, I'm Cindy Crawford, and I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but I never liked being told, oh, wow, you look so good for your age. Why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age, every age? That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about. We create products that make you feel confident in your skin at the age you are now. Meaningful Beauty. Beautiful skin at every age. Learn more at MeaningfulBeauty.com.
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--:-- Ankur Desai: According to a nationwide survey conducted by GeneSight, nearly 9 in 10 Americans who've been diagnosed with depression or anxiety believe that mental health medications are somewhat or very effective. However, despite that belief, more than half of those individuals say they have avoided taking medication due to concerns about potential side effects.
--:-- Dr. Whitney Brown: That's why Dr. Whitney Brown, a family and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner based in Alabama, often recommends genetic testing to our patients as part of their treatment journey. Dr. Brown explains.
--:-- Dr. Whitney Brown: As part of my treatment plan, I offer the GeneSightTest, site tests, which analyzes how a patient's genes may influence how they metabolize or respond to certain mental health medications. It gives me insights and takes out some of the guesswork that can be associated with prescribing them.
--:-- Ankur Desai: If you or someone you love is facing challenges with depression or anxiety, talk to your doctor about how genetic testing may help. To learn more, visit genesite.com. That's genesite.com.
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--:-- Ankur Desai: Next we're in Venezuela where a weekly club is bringing together local seniors who may be facing loneliness and putting their dance moves on show in the capital Caracas. Over 60s are invited to hit the dance floor at club tobias and throw some shapes.
--:-- Holly Gibbs: This is a weekly meeting of Club Tobias members at a shopping mall in Caracas, Venezuela. They are singing, dancing and just generally having a good time. Tobias is a social club with a twist. It's for people over the age of 60, many of whom live alone as their children have emigrated abroad.
--:-- Angela Gratterall: I dance even in the bathroom. In the morning, when I get up, I turn on the radio and sing and dance. My feet just start moving on their own. Music fills me up in some way, and thanks to Tobias, I was able to get that back at this point in my life.
--:-- Xandra Pedraza: 77-year-old Xandra Pedraza co-founded the club three years ago. We want to become a nationwide social franchise because with the Venezuelan migration, many adults have been left alone.
--:-- Jose Rafael Quintana: The other co-founder is José Rafael Quintana. He has a simple motto to motivate people who come to Club Tobias. What do we do here? Here we dance, sing, talk, celebrate life and connect neurons.
--:-- Holly Gibbs: We teach older adults that if you don't move, you seize up. Jose Rafael Quintana ending that report by Holly Gibbs.
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--:-- Ankur Desai: It was once thought to be a haunted island, the site of an old plague pit and deserted hospital. Poveglia in northeastern Italy lies in the Venetian lagoon just under five kilometres from the main city.
--:-- Carla Conti: Now more than four and a half thousand people have clubbed together to stop it being purchased by developers and ensure it remains as a natural haven for all.
--:-- Federica Fornazie: The project is about preserving the island of Poveglia and keeping it free and accessible for the people. Not just Venetians, anyone who can visit. That's Federica Fornazie. She's the group's secretary and one of the many volunteers who've been working to keep the island alive.
--:-- Carla Conti: The story begins in 2014, when Italy's state property agency put Poveglia up for auction, starting as zero euros. Furious at the prospect of losing another piece of public land to private investors, Venetians took action.
--:-- Federica Fornazie: We started a fundraising campaign and we wanted to raise 20,000 euros, which was what was needed to participate in the auction. Just to say we exist we like it But instead in just a few weeks they raised That was when they realized that it was a big outrage It wasn just a group of people at a cafe This was shared by Phoenician families and also people from outside Venice that loved the island.
--:-- Carla Conti: The auction was cancelled, but the movement had begun. Over the years, the group cleared the island of weeds, collected plastic from the shoreline and opened it up for community celebrations.
--:-- Federica Fornazie: Now they're teaming up with botanists and the University of Verona, not just to replant the island with native species, but to track how care from citizens can reshape a place ecologically and socially.
--:-- Carla Conti: The most important goal for the project was that Plovella should not fall into a state of abandonment. But the other objective is for it to become more accessible and for people to really feel like it's their urban park in the lagoon.
--:-- Federica Fornazie: Recently, there have been articles in the news saying that the association wants Poveglia only for residents. But this is absolutely not true. Anyone can visit. What the project is doing is trying to transform every visitor of Poveglia into an inhabitant in their own way.
--:-- Carla Conti: Even without electricity and even without a peer, the group still manages to hold events like open-air concerts and communal picnics.
--:-- Federica Fornazie: We do this cute thing. Once a year, we organise a day, a community day, a party on the island with music, food, theatre, and we try to invite everybody who's interested in the project.
--:-- Carla Conti: There is this idea of creating the community by getting people to fall in love with the island more and more.
--:-- Ankur Desai: While the lease is only six years for now, Povella per Tutti hopes their model can inspire others across Italy and beyond.
--:-- Carla Conti: Carla Conti reporting.
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--:-- Ankur Desai: Now, dear listeners, have you, like me, ever wondered if tortoises feel the same emotions as humans? And if not, why not? I admit they're one of my favourite creatures. I mean, they have existed for over 200 million years.
--:-- Stephanie Prentice: Well, a group of scientists set out to find the answer and the results are in, as Stephanie Prentice reports.
--:-- Professor Anna Wilkinson: Tortoises are renowned for being slow moving and placid. But does that come from a sense of deep contentment in life or some sort of quiet existential malaise? Professor Anna Wilkinson was part of a team at the University of Lincoln in England, studying 15 of the reptiles, including Esme, Moses and Gerard Butler, and told us that doing an emotional wellness check on a reptile isn't easy.
--:-- Stephanie Prentice: A tortoise, it doesn't smile. It doesn't have facial expressions. So because of this, we need to look at other ways to tell. So what we did in this study is we looked to see if the tortoises had mood states.
--:-- Professor Anna Wilkinson: The team used the classic, is the glass half full or half empty approach, but using leafy greens and the odd carrot. What we did was we said if your food bowl is on the right hand side if you go there you'll get some food. If your food bowl is on the left hand side if you go there you won't get some food. And the tortoises very rapidly learned this.
--:-- Stephanie Prentice: And then we say well what do you do when it's halfway? Are you an optimist? Do you treat it as if it's full or half full at least? or a pessimist, as if it's likely to be empty. And so we did this to our tortoises and what we found was overall they had an optimistic bias, which we were delighted by.
--:-- Stephanie Prentice: The researchers say this is important as the findings can make people see that their pet tortoise has a rich inner life and encourage optimal care for creatures that can live for up to 200 years.
--:-- Ankur Desai: And while the study suggests that tortoises tend to look on the bright side, Further research will be required to determine whether, like some humans, tortoises are prone to getting a bit grumpier with age.
--:-- Stephanie Prentice: Stephanie Prentice reporting.
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--:-- Ankur Desai: Now to an incredible community response to support a teenager who'd been bullied at school. That's the sound of some of the hundreds of motorbikes that turned out in Swindon in southern England to escort Josh Duff to his prom on the eve of his 16th birthday.
--:-- Craig Duff: Josh's dad, Craig, had appealed on social media for fellow bikers to help end his son's time at high school on a positive note after years of being picked on. He says he was amazed by the response.
--:-- Craig Duff: Within, say, 10, 15 minutes of putting the post up, I had already had 10, 15 bikers woke up in the morning. We had about 50 bikers say they were coming. And then the next 12 hours after that, it exploded. We've had messages from all around the UK. We've had people internationally contacting us saying they're following the story.
--:-- Frances Duff: Josh has special educational needs, known in the UK as SEN, and his mum Frances says that's made school harder. All kids can have a hard time in school, especially SEN kids. They can have a very hard time. But we didn't want the end of the chapter of school to not be the best it can be.
--:-- Craig Duff: So we came out and thought hang on let's grab a few people to show that even though it was difficult you've done your exams you've had a hard time but no we're going to go to prom you're going to have a fantastic time and it shows josh that there is support from so many people even if he feels alone some days he he doesn't realize how many people have his back.
--:-- Josh Duff: Before the event josh said he couldn't believe the response i am over the moon because i never thought this would blow up this much initially when this post went out i wanted only a two dozen bikers at the limit i never thought i'd reach up internationally and got over 250 bikers plus my heart is full of these bikers and these people saying all these love full because i'm just so excited and overwhelmed and it's estimated around 1500 people turned out some traveling for hours just to be there.
--:-- Craig Duff: His lesson from it all, with the bullies, if you just ignore them and power through, you can expect a great result. Wise words from a wise young man. Well done, Josh.
--:-- Ankur Desai: And that's all from the Happy Pod for now. If you have a story you think will inspire others or just make them smile, we'd love to hear from you. As ever, the address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. And you can now watch some of our interviews on YouTube. Just search for The Happy Pod.
--:-- Ankur Desai: This edition was mixed by Pat Sissons and the producers were Holly Gibbs and Harry Bly. The editor is Karen Martin and I'm Ankur Desai. Until next time, goodbye.
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--:-- Asma Khalid: isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere. I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. I'm Tristan Redman in London, and this is The Global Story.
--:-- Tristan Redman: Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
