Across the eight-part BBC Radio 4 podcast, Paris meets people with contrasting stories as she looks at varied human experience. With the help of experts and social science she considers what’s at the heart of being human and asks questions about how language forms our identity, what truly makes us happy, how teenagers get their kicks and what makes family, ‘family’.

Paris says: “It’s been a privilege speaking to so many amazing people who are just trying to live the best lives that they can and keep moving forwards, even when they’re coming from wildly different directions.

"Throughout this series, I’ve felt engaged, connected and found meaning in doing something I hope will be of value to other people.”

Each episode of The Flipside hears two accounts from either side of the coin, as Paris looks at what connects and divides these different stories from around the world. From when bad habits become a problem to radicalisation, impulsivity and rebellion. Paris asks why we forgive, if happiness is installed within us or dependent on external circumstances, and what drives our obsession with sex.

Radio 4’s Podcast and Digital Commissioning Editor Rhian Roberts says: “The Flipside puts us in the middle of a gently persuasive swirl of thinking. Paris has a way of making careful consideration of people and their motivations a real pleasure.”

Episode one explores how speaking a second language can affect how we think and behave. Paris speaks to a YouTuber who found going through therapy in her second language forced her to explore the emotional baggage of English and Italian; and a woman who lost her mother tongue after crossing the US border for a new life, who is on a mission to remember the language she loves.

Episode one of The Flipside with Paris Lees will be available on BBC Sounds from 13 October.

The Flipside is hosted by, Paris Lees, and written by Hannah Varrall and Paris Lees. It is an ITN Production for BBC Radio 4.

Assistant Producer: Lucy Evans
Production Manager: Emily Jarvis
Producer: Hannah Varrall
Executive Producer: Rubina Pabani
Commissioned by Rhian Roberts