12:15pm Hunting for Bigfoot: Wild Thing The first time I ever saw Bigfoot I was only about 7 or 8. OK it was just some jerky video footage of a hairy figure walking along a river bed looking back over its shoulder, but it's still left a lasting impression. The podcast 'Wild Thing' explains that this famous film is called the Patterson-Gimlin film and it was recorded back in 1967 by 2 guys in California. And whether this film is a fake or not (and there are plenty of theories that it IS a hoax) the legend of Sasquatch, of a hairy hominid living out in the wild, is widespread and enduring. Laura Krantz found out that she'd got a distant relative who'd devoted his academic career and risked his reputation on finding Bigfoot. So she spent a year in the lab and out in the wild on the hunt for the big guy, tip-toing between sceptics and believers to explore the Sasquatch story, some of the wacky theories about it, and what modern science is saying about it today. We play some of the first episode of Wild Thing called 'Grover' and speak to producer and presenter Laura Krantz about the Bigfoot story and how it's being viewed today.

12:30pm Tai Asks Why: 11-year old ponders life's big questions He's only 11 years old but Tai Poole's still searching for answers to some of life's big questions. Like...what happens after we die?....and how can we fix climate change?! From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, we play some of 'Tai Asks Why' and part of an episode called 'Should We Trust Our Gut?' produced by Veronica Simmonds and Yasmine Mathurin.

12:40pm Updating medical advice: Inside Health Each week the media's full of stories about the latest medical research: new treatments, clinical trials, food, drugs, and supplements...there seems to be a boundless appetite for advice on how to live a longer, more healthy life. But how can we health consumers tell what evidence we should rely on, and what's based on bad science, or on spin coming from drug companies? BBC Radio 4's 'Inside Health', hosted by Dr Mark Porter, tries to keep you up to date. As well as being a medical journalist, Mark's also a practicing GP so his focus is on the business end of the healthcare system: how to give patients the best, most up to date advice.In the show you'll hear directly from patients and people affected by particular health conditions. Mark's often joined by regular contributor to the show, Margaret McCartney, who's become a bit of a podcast favourite of mine. She's a straight-talking GP based in Glasgow and the scourge of any glib or ill-prepared researcher! She doesn't hold back, and casts a shrewd and often sceptical eye over their findings, and how well they might translate to the doctor's surgery. Recent episodes have discussed pedometers, umbilical cord clamping, running and knee health, and macular degeneration. We play an excerpt from an episode focussing on the common practice of taking a daily low dose of aspirin as a way of protecting against heart attack or stroke. 

12:50pm The Last Days of August: what caused a porn star's death? The author and journalist Jon Ronson made the popular podcast "The Butterfly Effect" about the many and sometimes surprising consequences of the rise in free online pornography. He's also written a book about public online shaming and abuse called 'So You've Been Publicly Shamed'.  These two worlds meet in 'The Last Days of August' his new show telling the story of August Ames, an adult actor and model who took her own life in December 2017. This happened after she'd posted Twitter comments that some thought homophobic. And it provoked a social media backlash which included the suggestion from a fellow adult performer that she should apologise, or take a cyanide pill. The social media firestorm was the cause of her death according to Ames' husband, the porn director Kevin Moore. But Ronson and producer Lina Misitzis do a masterful job in presenting a more nuanced picture, and suggesting that there were many other factors at play. And they don't do it by creating false tension or a fake mystery either- early on in the show they make it clear that no one is suspected of her murder. We play some of episode 1 of The Last Days of August presented and produced by Jon Ronson and Lina Misitzis and available exclusively via Audible. [Warning: the clip deals with mature subject matter and contains some discussion of suicide.]