How can you find comfort in the winter months?
What's Up Docs?
BBC
4.4 • 659 Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.
In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into winter comforts. What is comfort? How has the meaning of comfort evolved? How did the ancients find comfort in the winter? How do other cultures embrace comfort? They explore the history of comfort, especially that found in winter celebrations and rituals, discuss how traditional winter habits compare to our modern ones, and examine whether comfort is a good thing or whether we should be embracing more discomfort.
Joining them to discuss this is Dr Tiffany Watt Smith, writer and cultural historian interested in the histories of emotion and medicine, former director of the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary University of London, and fellow of the Royal Historical Society. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08000 665 123.
Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken Guest: Dr Tiffany Watt Smith Researcher: Mili Ostojic Producer: Faye Lyons White and Rami Tzabar Social Media Producer: Leon Gower Assistant Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis Editor: Jo Rowntree Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable Digital Lead: Richard Berry Composer: Phoebe McFarlane Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby
At the BBC: Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Transcript
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| 0:19.4 | Stevie Wonder, welcome. I'm pleasure. Loyal Carnar is with us. We want to hearract with Annie and Nick. Stevie Wonder, welcome. |
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| 0:27.1 | Welcome to Uncloaked, Ireland. |
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| 0:30.5 | The winner. |
| 0:31.2 | I know, still hasn't sunk in. |
| 0:32.7 | Get the best of 2025 with podcasts on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.0 | Hello and welcome to What's Up Docs. I'm Dr Zandt and I'm Dr Chris. |
| 0:44.4 | And What's Up Docs is the podcast where we passionately pursue the best ways we can take care |
| 0:48.4 | of our health and well-being. From learning how to be less compliant to say no to getting |
| 0:52.5 | enough fibre in our diet to looking after our dry skin. |
| 0:56.4 | That's right, Chris, and we've covered a lot of important topics, but today and for the next |
| 1:00.8 | episode, we're doing something a little bit different for this winter season. That's right, |
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