This month Maia speaks to local Bristol artist, Gail Reid, and visible difference advocate, Amit Ghose, about a project which focussed on representing visible difference through art. Gail was commissioned to paint a portrait of Amit which was unveiled at CAR's AM10 conference in June 2024. We discuss the process of Gail, Amit and CAR working together to create the portrait and reflect on the unveiling. To learn more about Gail's work: Gail's online portrait gallery and stories behind them: https://www.gailreidartist.com/portrait-gallery Gail's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/gailreidartist Gail's Instagram account: www.instagram.com/gailreidartist To learn more about Amit's work: Amit's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@amitghosenf1 Amit's Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/amitghosenf1 To see the livestream recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu8SPzjIEZ4

On this episode, Abbi speaks with Dr Nicole Paraskeva and Sharon Haywood, both researchers at the Centre for Appearance Research, about an emerging research area harnessing the power of social media influencers to deliver body image interventions. Papers discussed: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-56578-1 https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/v83ht https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1740144524000755 Animation mentioned in episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUBS97hZZfs To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us: • On X: x.com/CAR_UWE • On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/ • On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot. Thank you! Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Cover photo credit - Oleg Ivanov via Unsplash Episode developed and produced by Abbi Mathews

On this episode, social psychologist and lecturer at Brighton University Dr Jamie Chan speaks with Nadia about body image and social class. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did! For more on Jamie: https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/jamie-chan To read Jamie's Thesis: https://sussex.figshare.com/articles/thesis/Beyond_resources_how_social_class_contexts_shape_women_s_body_image_in_the_United_Kingdom/25574445?file=45565752 To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us: • On X: x.com/CAR_UWE • On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/ • On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot. Thank you! Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Cover photo credit - Jessica-Podraza via Unsplash Episode developed and produced by Nadia Craddock

Welcome back to Appearance Matters the Podcast! In this episode, we share the recording of one of our Appearance Matters 10 Keynote talks, delivered by Prof. Phillippa Diedrichs. Please note, the sound quality isn't the best as this was a live recording, but we hope it's good enough. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did! To find out more about Phillippa, visit her website: http://phillippadiedrichs.com To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us: • On X: x.com/CAR_UWE • On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/ • On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot. Thank you! Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Cover photo credit - Jessica-Podraza via Unsplash Episode developed and produced by Nadia Craddock

Welcome back to Appearance Matters the Podcast! In this episode, we share the recording of one of our Appearance Matters 10 Keynote talks, delivered by Prof. Kathleen Bogart. Kathleen's keynote was entitled: 'Putting a Face to Appearance Research: Representation of understudied visible differences'. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did! If you'd like to find out more about Kathleen's work, check out the links below: - Disability Advocacy and Research Network (DARN) https://darndisability.org/ - Kathleen's Psychology Today blog https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/disability-is-diversity - Kathleen's journal article on self-relevant research https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00056-x - Kathleen's recipe blog! https://perfectrecipeproject.blogspot.com/ To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us: • On X: twitter.com/CAR_UWE • On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/ • On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot. Thank you! Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Cover photo provided by Kathleen Bogart Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton

Welcome back to Appearance Matters the Podcast! In this episode, we share the recording of our Appearance Matters 10 Conference panel discussion event, titled ‘Beyond the Selfie: Can Social Media Influencers Shape the Appearance Diversity Landscape?’ Our panel members include: - Stephanie Yeboah, an award-winning content creator, author and writer. - Amit Ghose, an advocate for the visible difference community and social media influencer with lived experience of neurofibromatosis/NF1. - Phyllida Swift, the CEO of Face Equality International, a charity dedicated to ensuring those with visible differences can live freely without indignity or discrimination. - Dr Amy Slater, a researcher at the Centre for Appearance Research whose work focuses on social media and visible differences. - Mazviona Madzima, a strategic partner manager at YouTube responsible for some of the platforms largest creators. - Antony Genova, a brand manager working in advertising at Google. To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us: • On X: twitter.com/CAR_UWE • On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/ • On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch Please share, subscribe, rate and review. It really does mean a lot. Thank you! Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Cover photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels Episode developed and produced by Abbi Mathews

A slightly different kind of episode on the show this month. Nadia speaks with Professor Phillippa Diedrichs about her new book for teenagers: The Body Confidence Book!! A mixture of personal stories, science, statistics, and tips and actions for young people curious to learn ways to improve their body image. To buy the book: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/body-confidence-book-respect-accept-and-empower-yourself-phillippa-diedrichs/7532618 To learn more about Professor Phillippa Diedrichs: https://www.phillippadiedrichs.com/

In this month's episode, Abbi speaks with Dr Lise Deguire; a clinical psychologist, public speaker, author and burn survivor. Abbi and Lise discuss how visible differences are represented within the media, what we as individuals can do to reject negative stereotypes, and the small changes that the media could make for a positive impact. Sign the Face Equality petition: https://www.change.org/p/tell-hollywood-visible-difference-doesn-t-equal-evil Lise's Ted Talk, Scarred not Scary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD9KhXQOED8&t=16s Lise's book, Flashback Girl: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flashback-Girl-Lessons-Resilience-Survivor/dp/1734932007/ref=sr_1_1?crid=BCRBWJH7FPZ5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XqGms3zHI5U5bY-9Lm3KzyJooR6XiJYPZMb1QsLNd2ARQk-2X6PDtCMIcFsAxxH5x7ORSZ85K_X42cgYsdz9KUW4MJgUuWXC8UlP7USPlWEL6Sc0tx9UCtTQ5oWdzKTTlM3SU3ryFw3gdDMht8SP3PkNLVQb-GoVMzLY4l-WDIEUVUYH5F8vdXV3Ck8v8QPowrQDI-HqxiYiMa1b7jRByQGCdsBKAa9fDtF3SnOxIP4.hDLwtlRvi8SEMSEhPJInQpsqd1zNnS3iBxg2NOQWlVI&dib_tag=se&keywords=flashback+girl&qid=1716212230&sprefix=flashback+girl%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-1 Thanks for listening!

In this episode, we are joined by some of the members of the CARE project team. CARE stands for Craniofacial Microsomia: Accelerating Research and Education and is aimed at investigating the psychosocial impact and healthcare burden of Craniofacial Microsomia. CAR's own Dr Nicola Stock (Associate Professor), Dr Alessia Johns (Paediatric Psychologist, Children's Hospital Los Angeles), Lazer Schefer (Patient advocate), and Amy Schefer (Parent advocate) join Maia to discuss this exciting project and the importance of conducting impactful research into rare conditions. To find out more about the CARE project or to take part in the research, click here: https://linktr.ee/careforcfm To keep up to date with the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us on • X: twitter.com/CAR_UWE • Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/ • Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton.

April is Autism Acceptance Month so Nadia speaks with Phaedra Longhurst - an autistic PhD student at Angelia Ruskin University. The Links to Phaedra's Papers: Scoping Review: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2023.102170 Positive body image in autistic adults interview study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.101655 BAS-2A: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101706 To keep up to date with the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us on • X: twitter.com/CAR_UWE • Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/ • Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch If you've enjoyed this episode, please do share it with someone else who might also and we'd love it if you could take a minute to rate and review the pod! Thank you! x Episode developed and produced by Nadia Craddock.

Find out more about Body Confident Sport - two new body image programmes designed to support girls in sport settings. Nadia speaks with Dr Emily Matheson, Dr Kat Schneider, Dr Courtney Boucher, and Dr Nicole LeVoi to hear more have this 3-year project from conception to dissemination. Body Confident Sport Website: https://www.bodyconfidentsport.com Centre for Appearance Research Website: www.uwe.ac.uk/car Tucker Center Website: https://www.cehd.umn.edu/tuckercenter/ Papers: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.06.012 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.06.013 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.05.002 https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2023.2212023 https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2023.2258379 https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2023-0035 Episode developed and produced by Nadia Craddock.