Hi, I'm Clemy Telford and it's time to get open and get honest.

Each week, I interview a guest about a topic that we as a society often shy away from.

From sex lives to salaries, life and death, religion and real bodies, no subject is off the table. Welcome to Honestly, the podcast.

Hello and welcome to this bonus episode of Honestly. I'm thrilled to say that this has been

brought to you in partnership with none other than Barbie

to celebrate the launch of some incredible new scientific findings that show for the first time

real tangible benefits of dollplay. Barbie commissioned Cardiff University to conduct a neuroimaging study

over the past 18 months senior lecturer Dr Saraherson, who I'll be chatting to later

on in the episode, and other colleagues at Cardiff University's Centre for Human Developmental

Science have used neuroimaging technology to provide the first indications of the benefits

of doll play at a brain level. Through monitoring the brain activity of children between

the ages of four and eight as they

played with a range of Barbie dolls, the team found that dole play activates brain regions that

allow children to develop empathy and social information processing skills even on their own.

I am in awe of this kind of research, but also absolutely still that dolls have been proven

to have such a positive

impact on development. On that note, should we get cracking with this episode? And thanks again

to Barbie for sponsoring honestly. My guest this week is Alan de Botton, Swiss-born British philosopher

and author. He co-founded the School of Life, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I am a ridiculous

fan of his.

He is one of those people whose work I consult whenever things become tricky or complicated.

His most recent book, Happy Healthy Minds, is a beautiful exploration into children's emotions

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