The science behind PMS, and how to beat it

The science behind PMS, and how to beat it

Author: Our Media August 11, 2025 Duration: 36:44
The luteal phase of the menstrual cycle has a really bad reputation. It’s known for premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, when many menstruating people experience low mood, bloating, food cravings and sluggishness before their period arrives. In stark contrast, we think of earlier phases in the cycle as times when we feel energetic, motivated and self-confident. In this episode, we speak to Dr Sarah Hill, an evolutionary psychologist whose research focuses on women, relationships and health, and the author of This is Your Brain on Birth Control and her upcoming title, The Period Brain. She tells us what happens to the body and brain during the luteal phase, why so many of us experience unpleasant symptoms, and some little things we can do to feel our best. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Curiosity doesn't have to be a deep dive; sometimes, you just want a clear, smart answer. That's the idea behind Instant Genius, a production from Our Media that brings the editorial expertise of BBC Science Focus Magazine into audio form. Each episode is a compact conversation with a leading researcher, scientist, or technologist, designed to unpack a complex topic in a single sitting. You might explore the mechanics of memory one day and the engineering behind quantum computers the next, all within the same accessible format. This podcast operates on the belief that profound understanding doesn't require hours of your time. Released every Monday and Friday, these bite-sized masterclasses are perfect for a commute or a coffee break, turning spare moments into genuine learning. The discussions are focused and surprisingly thorough, moving from fundamental principles to cutting-edge implications without getting lost in jargon. It’s for anyone who has ever wondered about the science of sleep, the truth about nutrition trends, or how black holes actually work, and wanted a reliable source to explain it clearly. Tuning into this podcast means getting a direct line to experts who are shaping our understanding of the world, all structured to deliver insight efficiently. The range is deliberately broad, spanning health, cosmology, technology, and everyday science, reflecting the endless questions a curious mind can hold.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Instant Genius
Podcast Episodes
The psychology of paranormal experiences [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:29
Be it a cold, drafty room in a creaky old country house or a still, quiet forest on a dark night, chances are that at one point or another we’ll all have entered an environment that for some reason made us feel uneasy. B…
Inside the hunt for life-changing medicines [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:19
Chances are when we’re treated with medicines in hospital or pick up our prescriptions at the pharmacy, we don’t give much thought about how the drugs that are so vital for our health and wellbeing came to be. The fact i…
From asteroids to aliens - how space is threatening our planet [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:24
Is our planet under threat from the depths of space? In this episode, we talk to solar physicist Dr Ryan French. Normally, Ryan is busy unravelling the mysteries of our Sun, but today we’ll be delving into a slightly dar…
Why we treat our pets and possessions like human beings [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:05
Many of us treat our pet dogs or cats with the same love and attention that with give to our human babies, some of us give our cars or other prized possessions human names and may even, at times, talk to them. This is kn…
How bats became one of the planet’s most successful animals [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:46
It’s a little-known fact that bats are one of the most successful animals on Earth, with almost 1,500 different species currently identified. Their agility in flight and prowess as hunters, wide-ranging diversity in size…
Why penguins are one of the planet’s most unique bird species [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:51
Thanks to their comical waddle-like way of walking, striking tuxedo-patterned plumage or graceful ability to seemingly ‘fly’ beneath the water, penguins are without doubt one of the planet’s most instantly recognisable a…
Busting the biggest myths in neuroscience [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:19
Relatively speaking neuroscience and psychology are young fields of scientific research that only really got going over the last hundred years or so. However, during this time several stubborn myths have arisen that, zom…
The positive tipping points that can help us solve the climate crisis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:11
When it comes to climate change, we often think of tipping points as having a huge negative effect. Be it the loss of ice sheets in the Arctic, the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest or the alteration of ocean curre…
How cats became one of our most-loved domestic pets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:13
From Lewis Carrol’s mysterious grinning Cheshire Cat and Jim Davis’s lazy, lasagne-loving comic strip tabby Garfield to the depictions of big cats found in palaeolithic cave art and the ancient Egyptian’s practice of wor…
How the health of the oceans is vital for the health of the planet [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:07
Despite being a land-based species, the fact is that we humans live on a planet that is largely covered by oceans. The oceans play a key role in regulating the Earth’s climate and provide us with many of the resources es…