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This is the Happy Pod from the BBC World Service.
Hello, I'm Oliver Conway, And in this edition, how approaching strangers for a chat could make us happier.
When you do go up and ask someone and you start talking, you feel so much better and it's just so good for your mental help.
I've loved it. This year's World Happiness Report highlights how people are more trustworthy than we think.
I'm deliberately mislaying 10 wallets across Belfast, each with a note asking to call my number if found.
So how many of our 10 wallets do you think will prompt a phone call?
And, once again, Finland is named the happiest country in the world.
Also… I'd never seen somebody live like a full and happy life with a speech impediment at the same time.
The woman helping millions of people make their voices heard. This week saw International Happiness Day and with it the release of a report showing strangers are much kinder than we think, like this.
Cups of tea. And I go around London.
I have teas with people and I make a little film about the tea that we have. Would you be down for a little...?
Of course. That 28 -year -old Will Shears who goes around parks in London handing out cups of tea.
In return, people talk about their lives.
Will has started posting the chats on social media in a project called A Mug Of Life.
The Happy Pods, Holly Gibbs, spoke to him over, of course, a cuppa.
I've got my tea here.
I've gone for a peppermint today.
I've already had my English breakfast. What flavour is your tea?
It is English breakfast. So I just want to hear about your a mug of life.
What made you want to start this?
Basically I was on holiday with my sister out in Morocco.
People on the beach in Morocco offer you cups of tea.
Through that you end up having a really good chat with them and hearing all about their life.
And I was like flying back and I was like is there a way to be able to go out to the parks in London and offer people a cup of tea?
So one day I just got out of my flat and I went to the local park and I said to someone I was like, excuse me, would you like a cup of tea?
And the first person I went up to said, yeah.
And I was petrified at the start, it's like is anyone actually going to say yes to this?
The majority of times I go up and say, do you want a cup of tea?
People say, yeah. And you don't know where the story is going to take you.
And it's always surprising and it's always beautiful.
And this project has been really about like realizing that everyone's got a great story.
it's just untapping that extraordinary story that everyone has!
And you get these amazing stories by just asking them something so simple as Would you like a cup of tea?
Is that what you would encourage other people to go out and do?
I have never felt better, and, like, yeah, we obviously need to be cautious about talking to strangers.
But I do think we built this world where we're like, we think it's weird to go and talk to a stranger, or when a stranger tries to start talking to you, go, and your guard goes up, like, that's certainly for me.
But the nice thing about this project is that it's mainly realised that actually when you do go up and ask someone and you start talking, you feel so much better and it's just so good for your mental health.
I've loved it and the fact that it's gone incredibly viral online with millions of views and I think that's because it touches this nerve that the fact that we live in this world which is very celebrity conscious and here's a project which is very much about going out to talk to the ordinary person and then telling their story.
and speaking of stories what is the most memorable conversation that you've ever had with a stranger?
It's really hard to have vapour.
I sort of take things from each chat.
Some of the stories that stand out, for instance there's a guy called Raza who hadn't spoken to his dad for years after his mum and dad had divorced and he was talking over the cup of tea about how he would love to one day rekindle that friendship.
there was also another guy called Brian, who I met in Finsbury Park, who basically ended up being friends with Robin Williams. And that was just amazing.
It's getting to know people and hearing their stories and still, I think we leave like, we're not strangers anymore.
And there's a beauty in that.
And on the reaction from social media and people that have watched your videos, has that surprised you that millions of people have watched it and millions of people are enjoying it?
I have been blown away, Holly, by the response by how many people have watched it, people from all around the world, all parts of the globe, and the messages that come in with so much positivity about how it's helped them with their day -to -day life, it's amazing to know that, through watching it, it's inspiring other people, it's making people feel better.
And how do you feel when you walk away from one of these interactions with someone that you've just sat down and heard their life story?
Sometimes like I'm so excited by what I've heard and it's like you'd like kick yourself what an extraordinary story that went on and at the end of it You're just sort of in awe the way to describe how I feel afterwards sometimes it's like on it I couldn't recommend it enough.
You should definitely go out and try it Holly.
I'm going to after this You'll be playing away with where that story will take you if there was one life lesson that you could sum up that You have learned throughout this project.
What would it be? I think this has been don't put barriers up and I think that would be my one bit of advice.
Just strip any barriers that are stopping you from doing that thing you wanted to do in your life because when you open your door and you get out the house that day and you start it, then you're going to feel so much better." Wilshears talking to Holly Gibbs According to this year's World Happiness Report, our belief in the kindness of strangers is closely tied to how happy we feel.
We also tend to underestimate the level of kindness.
Trust in Strangers was measured by looking at how many people returned wallets that had been deliberately misplaced.
The number was almost twice as high as expected.
The BBC's Mark Easton marked the day by carrying out an experiment of his own.
For years, researchers into happiness have been losing wallets.
On purpose. And today, here in Northern Ireland, I'm going to lose some, too.
Today is World Happiness Day, and also sees the publication of the World Happiness Report, which this year says that places where people think strangers are generally kind, the sort of people who would return a lost wallet, well, those places tend to be happier than places where they don't believe in the kindness of strangers.
So I'm deliberately mislaying 10 wallets across Belfast, each with a note asking to call my number if found.
So how many of our 10 wallets do you think will prompt a phone call?
Are you more pessimistic than you need to be about the kindness of strangers?
The academic guru of lost wallets says most people are and that seriously damages community well -being.
So, you drop wallets, see how many you return.
Then you compare it to what people think is the case and it turns out wallets are returned twice as often as people think or more and if we could make them believe that it really was all the time, they'd be much happier.
Where did you find it?
Wallet finders across Belfast have started calling me.
Well, you're very kind.
Why did you return it?
You could have just taken the money.
Because that would have been nice to do, so we just decided to phone you.
Just an almost person, if a company made us my wallet, or I mean, a Jade telling us it's nice to be nice.
It should inspire us all to believe in the kindness of strangers.
A very kind of use… One finder, Al, insisted on delivering the wallet back to me in person.
You're only glad you're here to receive your wallet back again.
So I dropped ten wallets on the streets of Belfast. So how many do you think were offered back to me by kind strangers?
Well, the answer is … all ten.
Well, our wallet experiment is not scientific.
It does back up the evidence.
Strangers are kinder than we think.
So happy World Happiness Day everyone!
Mark Easton – and he was talking to the founding editor of the World Happiness Report, John F.
Hellywell, from the University of British Columbia.
If you've ever been helped by the kindness of strangers or made friends just by chatting to someone we'd love to hear from you.
Send an email or voice note to globalpodcasts at bbc .co .uk.
The UN report also named Finland as the world's happiest country for the eighth year in a row, as another of the authors, Lara Aknir, explains.
There are often topping lists with a lot of Nordic countries.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly what Finland might have in terms of some secret sauce or perfect level of predictors But it's been speculated there might be various factors, including a strong social safety net that provides people a sense of financial support should they need to leave their work if they need health care, also education covered all the way from very young ages through university, but also the fact that a strong social safety net provides not just these financial resources and basic necessities, but also represents the idea that your neighbors, that your fellow countrymen are there
by your side to support you.
One important thing in the report is that we try to understand the global variations in these rankings so what helps explain the happiness differences across these countries.
Some of these factors are typically beyond the reach of the average individual like GDP per capita and healthy life expectancy which you might be able to shape with some healthy choices.
But two of my favorites to underscore are the importance of social support so that is having someone to count on in times of need and engaging in personal acts of generosity for other people.
Both of those have been shown to be strong, independent predictors of wellbeing and I think they're particularly powerful and potent because they're things that we can choose to engage in.
Lara Aknin from the World Happiness Report.
As well as all those positives, there's another side to Finland's happiness, the concept of Sisu.
The word is deeply ingrained in Finnish culture, but it has no direct translation in English.
It's along the lines of inner strength, but there's more to it than that as Stephanie Prentiss has been finding out.
From jumping in freezing lakes right after a sauna with friends...
to going back to basics in nature.
We've heard about the benefits of the Finnish culture for promoting mental wellbeing, but within those happy activities lies something else...
difficulty. Alongside the 2025 happiness report, officials in Finland were quick to point out that one One of the secrets to happiness is embracing Sisu.
It's a word and a concept that doesn't translate, literally.
But it's something we're told is important to every Finn.
So we ask some of them to explain.
Magnus Appleberg is a cold exposure enthusiast and teaches courses in Finland, encouraging foreigners to embrace Sisu.
Everything is proud of the concept of sisu.
It's an innate power of facing adversities.
When you have guests that may come from countries for example without so much of a cold climate, how do they react when you initially put them in those situations, when they're in the icy of shock.
Then they, slowly by using their breath, they come out of it.
You see when their faces light up it's like wow, they have seen a total new world.
A total new way of facing hard things.
For Magnus, Sisu is a skill that can be built.
For people living in urban environments, he says start the day with a cold shower.
You will feel the mental resistance.
You are stepping into an ice cold shower, turn the adversity into a relaxed situation.
Everybody can learn that.
Petri Kekonnen is a wilderness guide in Lapland.
He gave up his easy city life to live off the grid in a remote cabin and he says despite the hardship, he's never been happier.
For me the system means like more of the lifestyle.
I don't have a real electric system, I have solar panels and I can't actually even use electricity in December and it's our darkest month, but it's like I really enjoy and I love that time.
What would your advice be to someone who might say I don't think I'm strong enough, I don't think I can do this?
Ah, you just need to trust yourself and find the fight inside of your body and your mind.
Go there and relax your mind and be proud of you the rest is history.
Wilderness Guide Petri Kock on and ending that report from Stephanie Prentiss.
And if you want to find out yet more about what makes Finland so happy, listen back to are special from last year, the happiest country in the world.
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The new year's here.
It's the perfect time to refresh those household essentials and score some cash back rewards with Colgate Palmolive.
From toothpaste to dish soap, chances are you've got Colgate Palmolive products on your shopping list and in your house right now.
We're talking brands like Colgate, Soft Soap, Palmolive, Irish Spring, Fabuloso and Toms of Maine.
And right now, you can get up to a $10 digital visa prepaid card when you buy up to $30 of Colgate Palmolive products.
Here's how it works.
Spend $20 on their products, get $5, spend $30, get a $10 reward. All you do is shop your favorite brands, snap a pick of your receipt and upload it to cprewards .com.
It's so easy. That's CP rewards dot com.
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Next to a woman helping to inspire confidence among those who find it hard to make their voices heard. Jessie Yendall, from South Wales, is one of an estimated 80 million people around the world with speech impediments.
After years building up the courage to speak to people she now has millions of followers on TikTok and is campaigning for others to be given the time and space they need to communicate.
Gemma Dunstan has been to meet her.
Excuse me, sorry to bother you and my name is Ajessy and I have got a speech impediment.
Ajessy Endle has struggled with confidence due to her stammer.
But in 2021 she started challenging herself to take part in everyday activities.
I'm trying to say. I can't say, like, st -st -stama And I, I like to brighten up the people today.
I just want to hand you some flowers.
I'd love to give you these sunflowers to eat your day.
You are an absolutely beautiful person.
I'm shaking. Thank you for speaking to me.
Oh my gosh, you're crying.
Her videos have seen her attract 3 .5 million followers online.
Oh my goodness! One of them is 16 year old Kitty.
Seeing or meeting other people with a speech impediment doesn't happen often, either for Jessie or Kitty.
I don't think I ever met, like, another person with a speech impediment until I met part of my...
part of my older brother's friends, who had a speech impediment also.
but then I found doing your account and your TikToks, which literally because I had never seen somebody live like a full and happy life with a speech impediment at the same time.
Absolutely. It makes me feel, it makes me feel really emotional and that you felt that way.
because I was growing up and I never thought I'd be able to achieve my dreams because of my speech and the fact that you have also felt the same way but then you saw my videos I'm not exactly what I wanted to show people.
Jessie has created a campaign to introduce a universal symbol for speech impediments, with the hope that it would signify that someone needs patience or more time to say their words.
I choose to do the clock, then the speaking symbol, so hopefully, hopefully I will get this passed.
I just want to hear, like, your thoughts on it.
I think it's such an amazing idea, it's such an amazing initiative, cos it would...
It would completely change my life and the lives of so many other people with speech impediments as well.
Jessie and Kitty are clear.
They want your patience, not your pity.
And it just means the world, er, er, er, er, er, er, er, er.
..that we're having this conversation and we're gonna raise, and even more awareness of auspicious empathemous and exhausting.
It's so exhausting.
Jesse & Kitty ending that report from Gemma Dunston Microplastic pollution has been described by the UN as a growing threat to the health of humans and the planet.
The tiny particles up to 5mm in diameter enter rivers and oceans from rubbish, the plumbing system and factories, among other sources.
They're taken in by plants and animals, causing damage and entering the food -chain.
They've even been found in human organs.
But now researchers in China say they have found a low -cost, sustainable way to filter microplastics out of water, using a sponge made from cotton and squid cartilage.
Our science reporter, Esme Stallard, has been looking at the research. She spoke to Nick Miles.
So microplastics can sort of enter our waterways, seas, rivers, general environment in kind of two ways.
There's what we call primary microplastics.
So this is where they're already very small.
So an example of this is when you wash your clothes, fibers can come off your clothes and enter your waterways and actually, that's a really big source of it.
There's also little bits of particles from your tires, there's another really major source that runs off roads.
And then there's secondary microplastics so this is when you a complete product like a plastic water bottle or a plastic bag gets thrown away and then the natural environment breaks that down to smaller and smaller particles.
It's kind of difficult I would say to overestimate the scale of the problem.
At the moment the evidence around the harm to humans is kind of incomplete but there are serious concerns and that's because a lot of plastics have harmful toxins or additives put into them to kind of enable them to form their function.
And we've seen plastic particles harming particularly marine wildlife.
So that's why it's so concerning that it's being found within our blood streams and there's sort of ongoing research around that.
Now, here's me. This potential solution uses an intriguing combination of substances, doesn't it?
They're calling it fibrous foam, but it's basically made out of two main materials.
One is cellulose, which they've extracted from cotton.
And the other is something called chitin which they've taken from the skeleton or from the structure of a squid, which seems very strange, but chitin is actually very, very common. It's in various different organisms and insects, crustaceans, but also fungi.
Effectively it's long chains of carbohydrates.
So they're the two main materials that they've used.
And it's actually really kind of crucial to the success of this solution that they've used those materials because they're so abundant, which makes it quite cheap to produce.
And it effectively works as a filter.
Is it 100 % effective?
It was 99 .9 % successful in the first use of it but what they found that was also really good is that they could almost recycle it, so they used it four or five times in their experiments and even after five uses, the effectiveness was still about 95 % which is really significant and it really helps to kind of lower the costs again in the manufacturing process.
You were saying that these substances are easy to get hold of, so I imagine the idea of being able to scale this up is a real possibility.
These are two really abundant materials in the natural environment.
Chitin is actually the most abundant polysaccharide, which is what it is, and as I said it's found in many sources, which is fantastic.
But the other thing that's really, really good about this is one of the other main limitations to scaling up these types of solutions is that they can often involve very complex processes and sometimes they need to add toxic chemicals to that process but actually what's amazing that the scientists have done here is is something called self assembly which is basically these two materials have been forced together and it is able to create this structure naturally and that's really fantastic because it cuts down the production process and the complexity of it and so the scientists in this case are hoping
certainly that it can be scaled up quickly.
They're currently applying for a patent for the material and they're searching for industrial partners to see if it can be produced, as we say, on a bigger scale.
As may Stallard talking to Nick Miles.
Now to a rather unusual retirement home for African penguins.
It's been created at the New England Aquarium in Boston as part of efforts to protect the creature.
In the wild, the African penguin population declined by more than a third between 2018 and 2023, leading to warnings that they could be extinct within 10 years.
Harry Bly has this report.
One of the many nicknames for the African penguin is beach doggy because they sound like doggies when they're screaming.
That's Mia Luzzietti one of the penguin trainers at the New England Aquarium.
Six penguins, Harlequin, Durban, Baldur's, Isis, Lambert and Dyer will join Island Zero.
It's easier to climb on, it's more flat, we have more matting on the island for comfort and overall it's just going to be hidden from the chaos that can be a large colony of some youngsters.
On the retirement island, trainers like Mia will tend to the penguins' more complex health needs, such as liver and eyesight problems, arthritis, and other mobility issues.
And so a lot of those birds have had acupuncture, physical therapy, laser therapy even, several of the birds on that island have gone through cataract procedures, Lambert gets daily eye drops multiple times a day.
Five of these penguins are now around double the life expectancy of this species, which in the wild is 10 to 15 years.
That's because as they age and slow down, they lose the ability to hunt for fish, and are more likely to themselves be eaten by a predator.
Native to the coasts of South Africa and Namibia, there's been a sharp decline in numbers in recent years, in part due to human activity, like overfishing, pollution and climate change.
So, how does the Penguin Retirement Village in Boston help with this?
Mia says the aquarium is part of an international conservation effort.
We're learning amazing things from these animals as they age.
And basically we can take information that we are learning from our colonies and our animals here and directly apply that to their wild counterparts through that initiative.
One example is studying the penguins' optimal environment and the types of nest they live in.
In their natural habitat, African penguin guano, or excrement, is harvested by humans to use as fertilizer.
That's a big issue because they nest in their guano. Sounds a little gross but they make very good tunnels and burrows with it and so we could apply, okay this type of material is preferred by them, this type of hut is preferred by them and then those types of huts were actually planted out there.
A court in South Africa has imposed six no -fishing zones around key penguin breeding colonies around the western Cape, preventing fishing boats from catching sardines and anchovies for the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, in Boston, staff plan to install more flat areas and shallow slopes to help the older penguins climb on and off their new island.
And that was Harry Bligh.
In our last episode, my colleague Alan Smith asked for your happy sounds and Helen, a truck driver from New Brunswick in Canada, sent us this message.
I like the sound of skipping a rock on a frozen pond or river.
I'm here in Canada and it sounds out of this world.
Well she didn't have her own recording but we wanted to hear what was so special about it so we found some.
Well Helen says she can just imagine a very primitive human doing this and being in awe of the extraordinary noise and she said she was amazed when she first heard it herself.
So, if you have a sound that makes you happy send us an email or voicenote to globalpodcast .co .uk That is all from us for now, but you can watch some of our interviews on Youtube by searching for The Happy Pot.
This edition was mixed by Chris Hanson and produced by Holly Gibbs and Rachel Bolkley.
Our editor is Karen Martin.
I'm Oliver Conway, until next time, goodbye!
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