All Consuming

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Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Exploring our culture of consumption through products that have changed the world

Charlotte Stavrou and Amit Katwala explore our culture of consumption through products that have changed the world -  asking how did we get here and what happens next?

Charlotte Stavrou and Amit Katwala explore our culture of consumption through products that have changed the world. They unravel the mysteries of marketing and the formidable forces that drive purchasing habits. From toilet paper to funerals, perfume to package holidays they'll be combing the past to see how landmark innovations have shifted the course of history. And asking what happens next?

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All Consuming: Toilet Paper

Toilet Paper

BBC Radio 4 - All Consuming, Toilet Paper

Charlotte Williams and Amit Katwala lift the lid on the toilet paper industry.

Charlotte Williams and Amit Katwala continue their exploration of products which have changed our lives. Here, they lift the lid on the toilet paper industry.

Charlotte Williams and Amit Katwala explore how Britain went soft on toilet paper. 

1-ply,  2 ply, 3 ply, quilted - there’s a lot of choice when it comes to choosing what toilet paper to buy. But soft toilet tissue is a relatively new invention.  Our lavatorial habits have evolved over time  and author Sophia Gholz gives us the lowdown on how pottery, magazines and corn cobs were all at one time used for the mundane but necessary task of keeping ourselves clean. 

For many people, the smell and feeling of a specific British brand of paper is etched into their collective memory. Dr Alice White of the Wellcome Collection explores official resistance to putting soft paper in schools and hospitals. 

Consumer psychologist Dr Paul Marsden is also on hand to explain why toilet paper is often the must-buy product in times of national emergency. 

And marketing consultant Paul Duncanson gives a behind-the-scenes account of one of the most enduring - and successful - toilet tissue advertisements ever produced.


Producer: Candace Wilson 
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

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