Show overview
Appearance Matters: The Podcast! has been publishing since 2015, and across the 11 years since has built a catalogue of 166 episodes. That works out to roughly 90 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a monthly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 14 min and 47 min — with run-times ranging widely across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Education show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 weeks ago, with 12 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2022, with 43 episodes published. Published by Appearance Matters.
From the publisher
Appearance Matters: The Podcast! Is the official podcast of the Centre for Appearance Research - a world leading research centre investigating body image and appearance psychology research, based at the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK. Hosted and produced by Maia Thornton, Abbi Mathews, Ella Guest, and Kat Schneider. Music by Sian Evans & John Landau (https://toplinefilm.com)
Latest Episodes
View all 166 episodesVisible Difference Matters Mini-Series - Episode 4. Social Media and Visible Difference
Visible Difference Matters Mini-Series - Episode 3. Supporting Parents and Carers of Children and Young People with Visible Differences
Visible Difference Matters Mini-Series - Episode 2. Supporting Young People with Visible Differences
Visible Difference Matters Mini-Series - Episode 1. Supporting Adults with Visible Differences
Episode 113. Phyllida Swift’s Appearance Matters 11 Keynote
112: Zali Yager’s Appearance Matters 11 Keynote
111: More Than a Number: How Clothing Sizes Shape Body Image
110. Women’s Health Month Special: Understanding PMOS (PCOS) & Endometriosis
109. Breast Cancer Update: The Latest Online Support & Experiences of Younger Women
108: Generative AI Has a Body Bias: Who Gets to Be Seen?
Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Kat speaks to Dr Aisha Sobey. Aisha is a Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, where she studies the ethical implications of Generative AI and digital health systems, especially focusing on the impacts on non-normative bodies, employing Political Economy, Science and Technology Studies, Fat Studies, and Disability Studies theories in her work. Read more about Aisha’s work here: https://www.lcfi.ac.uk/people/aisha-sobey Read Aisha’s study on GenAI and weight bias here: Sobey, A. (2025). The thinness of GenAI: Body size in relation to the construction of the normate through GenAI image models. AI and Ethics, 5(4), 4181–4196. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-025-00684-x If you’re interested in hearing more about the Appearance Matters Conference, hosted by the Centre for Appearance Research (9th – 11th of June 2026), click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Cover image by Trevor James Episode image by Yutong Liu & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Kat Schneider
Episode 107: Social Media & Visible Difference
Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Ella speaks to Research Fellow Dr Emma Waite and Visiting Professor Dr Amy Slater from the Centre for Appearance Research about their work on social media and visible difference as part of the VTCT Foundation Programme of Research at CAR. They are also joined by Laure Dedecker, a PhD student at the Media Psychology Lab at KU Leuven in Belgium who researches the role of social media in body image development among young individuals with a visible difference. They talk about the social media experiences of people with visible differences, how social media might be used in a positive way, and discuss Australia’s new social media ban for under 16s. The social media resources discussed will be coming soon to the Visible Difference Support Hub: https://visibledifferencesupporthub.com/ Journal article (Guest et al., 2025) exploring the experiences of adults with visible differences in relation to social media: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0324938 Journal article (Dedecker et al., 2025) examining content and responses to influencers with visible different: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144525000725?via%3Dihub If you’re interested in finding out more about the Appearance Matters Conference, hosted by the Centre for Appearance Research (9th – 11th of June 2026), click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Cover image by Armin Rimoldi via Pexels Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Ella Guest
106: In Conversation with Zali Yager – AM11 Keynote Speaker
Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Kat speaks to Zali Yager, an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Institute for Health and Sport at Victoria University, Australia, and the founder and executive director of the Embrace Collective. The Embrace Collective: https://theembracehub.com/ If you’re interested in hearing more about the Appearance Matters Conference, hosted by the Centre for Appearance Research (9th – 11th of June 2026), click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Appearance Matters 11 early bird registration is available until the 31st of January! Cover image by Trevor James Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Kat Schneider
105. In Conversation with Phyllida Swift - AM11 Keynote Speaker
Welcome back to Appearance Matters the podcast! This month we are kicking off our Appearance Matters 11 conference series. This month Maia speaks with Phyllida Swift CEO of Face Equality international about her inspirational work with the organisation, her path into working into the visible difference field, some highlights of her career so far, as well as goals for the future. Phyllida also speaks about her previous AM conference highlights and key messages she hopes to share in her keynote in June. Join us for a really reflective and insightful discussion about combining the personal and professional in the non-profit sector and to hear some teasers for Appearance Matters 11. To find out more about the work of Face Equality International click here: https://faceequalityinternational.org/ Registration for Appearance Matters 11 is now open! Early bird registration fees will be available until the 31st of January 2026! For more information about Appearance Matters 11 click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference or follow this link to go directly to the registration page: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference/registration
Episode 104: Family planning when you have a heritable visible difference
Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Ella speaks to Dr Kerry Montgomery, who is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Appearance Research, about the STAR Project. Kerry’s work explores how people with conditions that affect appearance and that can be passed on to their children make decisions about starting a family. They talk about research Kerry has carried out with prospective parents who have visible differences and genetic counsellors. Please be aware that this episode contains discussion of pregnancy, family planning, and termination, which might be sensitive for some listeners. If you’re interested in hearing more about the Centre for Appearance conference, Appearance Matters 11 (9th – 11th of June 2026) click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Photo by Warren Umoh on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/a-chain-link-fence--qycBqByWIY?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Ella Guest
103: Weight-Inclusive Physical Activity
Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Kat speaks to Dr Luciana Zuest (Towson University, US) and Dr Eva Pila (Western University, Canada) about weight bias and weight stigma in sport and exercise settings, and how to make physical activity spaces more inclusive for all bodies. Dr Eva Pila: https://www.uwo.ca/fhs/kin/about/faculty/pila_e.html Body Image & Health Research Lab: https://bihlab.com/, @bihresearch (Instagram) Dr Luciana Zuest: https://www.towson.edu/chp/departments/kinesiology/facultystaff/luciana-zuest.html Weight-Inclusive Thinking for Fitness Spaces: https://www.weightinclusivethinking.com/ If you’re interested in hearing more about the Appearance Matters Conference, hosted by the Centre for Appearance Research (9th – 11th of June 2026), click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Appearance Matters 11 abstract submissions are now open and the deadline is the 7th of November! Cover image by Trevor James Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Kat Schneider
102: The Visible Difference Support Hub
Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Maia speaks to Prof. Di Harcourt about the development of The Visible Difference Support Hub, a brand new website that is aims to provide easy access to evidence-based support for people with visible differences and their families which has been developed at CAR. Di and Maia talk about the research that has gone into creating these support resources, the development process of the support hub, and the kind of materials people can find on the website. If you’d like to explore or share The Visible Difference Support Hub please follow this link: https://visibledifferencesupporthub.com/ If you’ve spent time on The Visible Difference Support Hub and would like to provide us with some feedback, please click here: https://uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_57m45grMC7LHeWa If you’re interested in hearing more about the Centre for Appearance conference, Appearance Matters 11 (9th – 11th of June 2026) click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Appearance Matters 11 abstract submissions are now open and the deadline is the 30th of October!
Summer Short Series: Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit
Welcome to our 2025 Summer Short Series! We're back with bitesize episodes showcasing recent work from our team at the Centre for Appearance Research! In this episode, we are joined by Dr Maia Thornton, Senior Research Fellow at CAR, who tells us about her recent paper entitled: The Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit: development of an ACT-based intervention to improve the well-being of parents and caregivers of children with appearance-affecting conditions and injuries. Maia discusses a support intervention for parents of children with visible differences, which she developed during her PhD. In this episode, we also introduce two new podcast hosts. Dr Kat Schneider and Dr Ella Guest are both Senior Research Fellows at CAR who will be joining the podcast team. Read Maia's open access paper: https://academic.oup.com/jpepsy/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jpepsy/jsaf054/8205549 Find out more about the Visible Difference Support Hub https://visibledifferencesupporthub.com/ Cover image by Trevor James Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton & Ella Guest
Summer Short Series: Appearance-Inclusive University
Welcome to our 2025 Summer Short Series! We're back with bitesize episodes showcasing recent work from our team at the Centre for Appearance Research! In this episode, we are joined by Emma Waite, Research Fellow at CAR, who tells us about her recent paper entitled: “Make sure that everybody feels there is a space for them”: Understanding and promoting appearance inclusivity at university." Emma discusses this qualitative piece of work and what it tells us about how we can improve appearance inclusivity in universities in a meaningful way. To read the full paper follow this link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1740144524001311 Cover image by Nada via Unsplash Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton
101: Appearance, Sexuality, and Gender
Welcome back to Appearance Matters: the podcast! In this episode, Maia speaks to Ginny Ramseyer-Winter, an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, and Savannah Roberts, a PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh. This episode focuses on appearance and body image through the lens of sexuality, sexual health, and gender. Tune in to hear a great discussion reflecting on the role of appearance ideals and body image in the context of sexual health and relationships, appearance norms across different sexualities and genders, and the importance of intersectionality. To find out more about the Centre for Appearance Research, follow us: • On Instagram: www.instagram.com/car_uwe/ • On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppearanceResearch Cover image: Igor Rand via Unsplash Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton
100: Blippi's Wonderful Talent Show
Nadia, Kirsty and Harriet from CAR talk about an exciting project focused on boosting young children's body image. Links: Blippi's Wonderful Talent Show on Neflix https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81910281 Blippi's Wonderful Talent Show on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h281Ojvs0Bc Research Papers Protocol: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20869-z Outcomes: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2025.101851 Nadia's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadia.craddock/ Nadia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadia-craddock/ Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed & produced by Nadia Craddock