Pnewsology

Pnewsology – the one about how one person can make such a difference (good and bad)

07/07/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with James Cannon at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 03/07/2026)

Week ending 03/07/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

I am a great believer in society, culture and how it takes a village to do its thing. But every now and again it becomes clear that one person can have a massive impact on the rest of us – for good and for bad.

This week Harry Kane rescued England from failure in the match against DR Congo and without his skills we would have been kicked out of the World Cup. But their wonderful goalie Mpasi also deserves a mention – he was spectacular! I know there is supposed to be ‘no I in team’ but this week we saw two ‘I’s absolutely do their thing.

We then have had the ongoing optimism around Andy Burnham as our new knight in shining armour about to save us all. He has made promises to devolve power to the north, invest in council housing and re-nationalise water. We so hope he is one of those special people who make a difference! But who knows? And who knows whether Keir Starmer really was that bad, until history has taken its toll.

And we watched as Taylor Swift got married to the love and adoration of her millions of fans worldwide! One woman seems to have captured the hearts of so many people who follow her every word and sing her many, many songs word perfect!

But not all individuals who make a difference bring joy! The investigations into Donald Trump’s finances were released this week and show that he has made over 2 billion dollars since being in power due to sales of his embossed bible, perfume, cryptocurrency, merchandise and lawsuits. It also showed that his trusts have made more than 21,000 individual stock trades and that his financial report for 2025 was 927 pages long (compared to Biden’s 11 pages!). Apparently, some of this might well be legal but it’s certainly not ethical and looks very much like corruption! One person takes power and one person makes a fortune for themselves and their family from it!

And in the background, we still have Putin and Netanyaho killing people because they can with the UN concluding from their commissioned enquiry that Israel is committing genocide by deliberately targeting children in Gaza. It makes for very grim reading.

I was brought up on the fairy tales of handsome princes, white stallions and the hero emerging from behind the scenes to save the day! When it soon became clear that this simply wasn’t going to happen (!) I leant into the psychology of the sum being greater than the parts and the role of the village. But every now again, even I need a hero and this week we have seen a few. And what a relief that it! But if individual’s can be good then they can also be bad. And those baddies seem to just carry on regardless with no consequences. So thanks to the heros when they pop up, but where are the proper heros when you need them to stop all the baddies in their tracks and let us get back to being a nice village where every can just be safe.
Pnewsology – the one about humour and how it makes us more forgiving

06/30/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with Mark Carter at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 26/06/2026)

Week ending 26/06/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

This week amongst the extreme heat, the dreadful earthquakes in Venezuela and the highs and lows of the World cup it has been clear that we desperately needed a bit of humour.

Andy Burnham was signed in as an MP and as he entered the formal hall, full of smartly dressed officials, someone from the back heckled ‘He’s not Messiah’ to which he smiled and said ‘I’m just a naughty boy’. Everyone in the room laughed, it went viral and we all laughed. We needed to laugh; we needed to like him and by making us laugh we decided he seemed like a good chap. Phew – maybe we have someone in charge who is a bit like us, knows our cultural references and doesn’t take themselves too seriously.

Prince Charles met the Afghan women’s cricket team who have been banned from playing in their country by the Talban. It could have been a solemn occasion but he welcomed them and joked that if they lose they can blame him for taking up their time. They laughed and seemed to think he was another nice chap.

And then there were all the World cup shenanigans! Scotland’s tartan army seem to have been having great fun dancing with robots in kilts, singing in bars and making the local Bostonians love them for it and Norway fans have rowed like Vikings on escalators, in Time Square and in the stadiums. We have all come away liking them just that bit more.

But then not everyone seems to have a sense of humour! Trump (as ever!) took offence at an inflatable frog protesting in favour of the algae in the reflecting pool. He missed the joke and spent the night railing against the frog on social media.

And not everyone gets what humour is! Clearly, we all find different things funny but the UK Head of Information commissioner recently resigned for what he called ‘humour’ and what was also described as ‘vulgar and sexualised language’!

Keir Starmer looks set to stand down as Prime Minister and whatever his policies and whatever he has actually achieved, the main problem seems to have been that we just couldn’t quite like him. He’s seems like a serious chap not a fun one and much as this should be the best kind of leader, without making us laugh (at least sometimes) we couldn’t quite get behind him. Humour makes us feel warm and fuzzy. It makes us relax and it makes us, at least at the moment, feel that the world is OK. But more importantly it makes us forgive the flaws and errors and try to see the best in people. Johnson was a dreadful leader but people forgave him all sorts of sins because they liked him. Trump (for some reason that’s beyond me) seems to be the same. But Starmer couldn’t quite do it. So without humour we go cross with him, blamed him and wanted him gone.

The world is a tricky place at the moment with all sorts of horrors and mostly it feels very unfair. Laughing can’t make it go away but it can provide a sense of temporary relief. Lets hope Andy Burnham can make us like him. Lets hope he does some good things. And lets hope he doesn’t give us too much to forgive.
Pnewsology – the one about masculinity (and still believing that’s its more nurture than nature!)

06/22/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with James Cannon at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 12/06/2026)

Week ending 12/06/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

So – heads up! I have a lovely son, a lovely Dad and a lovely boyfriend! So this is not about man bashing! BUT this week the news has been full of men behaving appallingly! (and not in a cheeky chappy kind of way!).

We have had the West Ham co-owner accused of preying on women for sex. There was the dreadful knife attack in Belfast followed by the riots and many arrests. We had a man in North London jailed for murdering his wife and trying to hide it by blowing up their house in a gas explosion and a male teacher found guilty of raping a pupil in Manchester. Plus – we had arrests (of mostly men) at the Epsom Day races and Stokes was removed as England cricket captain after a punch up.

In fact, once I started to think about covering masculinity, stories of men being horrible just seemed to be everywhere!

I know men have more testosterone than women and are probably evolutionary programmed to be more aggressive etc etc but what has gone wrong? Many men are nice and calm and caring and don’t murder or rape people. It’s therefore not biologically inevitable and has to be nurture to some extent? And if nurture is bringing out the worst in men then surely it can bring out the best?

Men are physical. But surely this can be exercise not fighting? And if it has to be fighting then surely this can be in a ring not on the streets? Men are also sexual. But so are women – so why can’t it just be about consent then everyone is happy? But men also struggle with identity in a world where a lot of the ‘manly’ manual jobs have gone. And this can lead to problems with mental health if they are told to ‘man up’ and keep it all in. So we need a new way to help men find a new identity in a changing world whilst also helping them let off steam in appropriate ways and feel safe to talk about how they are feeling.

So some good news! This week we also heard from Gareth Southgate who gave his views on boys, arguing that they do need to be treated differently to girls to help them manage their need to be physical as a means to help with their identity, mental health, employment and educational success. And we also heard Declan Rice talk about how his mum was cross with him about his sunburn at the World cup which made me smile!

Men and women are different. But this doesn’t mean that men will inevitably behave appallingly. I have many good men in my life who play loads of sport and talk the talk as good as anyone. The problem is supposed to complex! But it seems to me that the solution is actually quite simple! Do sport of every kind and then just chat!
Pnewsology – the one about adulthood and when it starts (and should end)

06/22/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with Lucy Ambache at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 19/06/2026)

Week ending 19/06/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

This week has been a mixed bag of news but with much of it raising the thorny question of how old is old enough? And when is too old?

Today the results came through of the Makerfield by election with Andy Burnham winning with a comfortable majority of over 9000 votes. He beat Reform easily! But when are we old enough to vote and take such responsibility? At the moment its stuck at 18 but many are pushing for 16. Younger people voting could mean we educate them at school about politics and encourage them to vote throughout their lives? It could mean the government no longer just reflects the views of the grey pound who are more likely to turn up on election day? Or it could mean that people who don’t have a clue get a vote? (and it probably means this anyway!).

We also heard about the introduction of a social media ban for the under 16s limiting their access to popular sites such as Tic Tok and Instagram. I thought this was a great idea until I read about young musicians, writers and artists who would see their following massively reduced. As a grey pounder it seems I was out of touch with what social media is used for!

Then we read that Prince George was being sent off to board at Eton at 13. That seems very young to be living away from home! How will his parents support him if he is lonely, bullied or just wants cuddle?

And we heard of the massive success of the HPV vaccination which has now reduced the risk of cervical cancer in 20-24 year olds to zero! Wow! This is given to 12-13 year old girls who can catch the virus through sex or close skin to skin contact reminding us that the age of consent for sex is 16.

And many of us are watching with men’s World cup with tentative optimism – did you know the youngest men to play for England were Walcott (16), Rooney (17) and Owen (18).

So how old is old enough? There’s a lot of responsibility in voting, doom scrolling on your phone, leaving home, having sex and representing your country. There’s also the additional rules around driving, alcohol, smoking and vaping. It’s a tricky one! People clearly develop at different rates and some need protected more than others and some behaviours are riskier than others. But how do we decide when someone is an adult?

And can someone stop being an ‘adult’ with all the benefits that brings? What about the other end of the spectrum? I’d hate to be accused of ageism but watching Trump turn 80 with a cage fighting spectacle on his front lawn. Seriously? We are run by old (mostly) men who seem to be making an absolute mess of the world whilst we prevent young people having the chance to change it.
Pnewsology – the one about how people respond to tragedy (and why some just want a fight!)

06/09/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with James Cannon at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 05/06/2026)

Week ending 05/06/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

This week has been one of dreadful tragedy and sadness as the video of Henry Nowak’s death was released showing him handcuffed after he had been stabbed and not believed that he was the victim not the perpetrator of a crime. Just horrific and shocking although I chose not click and watch as I have my own son and I just didn’t want the images in my head.

But this week has also been one of a range of reactions to this tragedy. Henry’s family have shown huge dignity and calm and an amazing ability to think of others as they called for people not use this as a chance for violence. They asked for something good to come out of their son’s death.

In contrast, Farage was quick to jump to accuse the country of two tier policing brought about their attempts to deal with racism. JD Vance was also super speedy to use it as a basis to criticise the problems of migration in Europe and Elon Musk took to social media to stir up division in the UK. At the same time, rioters took the streets of Southampton to demonstrate against the police and to date several have been arrested.

Why do some people see tragedy as a opportunity to gain political points? Why are some so poised to be angry? How do people live their lives with such a short fuse? And why are people living in America so obsessed with what is happening on our little island so many miles from theirs? If we called for division, riots, changes in policing laws etc etc every time someone was murdered in the US no one would ever get anything else done.

And then we have the ongoing wars in the Middle East with bombs still falling on Lebanon and Iran and people still being killed in Gaza and the West Bank (including a baby in a car) with the US and Israel reacting to every cease fire, every complaint or every sniff of a reaction with more bombings and more killings. Just poised to aggression all of them.

But some people don’t react to tragedy like that.

In Guildford, Matt Gaskin, a local businessman, reacted to his friend nearly dying from a heart attack by buying a red phone box and setting up a defibrillator in town for everyone to use. In Tonbridge Wells, an 11 year girl called Kirsty and her family reacted to her own diagnosis of a brain tumour by raising awareness for paediatric brain tumours through tracking down Kirsty namesakes across the world. Right now, they have already recruited over 10,000. So if you are called Kirsty (or something very similar!) do get involved! Which reminds me of Charlie’s promise, a charity set up for knife crime education after Charlie was killed, and the Stephen Lawrence foundation set up by his parents after his death. Aggression doesn’t always have to be followed by more aggression. Sometimes it can lead to something good.

Some people must live their lives like coiled springs feeling so much anger and stress that anything can be a trigger to an outbreak of violence. Some just coldly and calculatedly watch for such moments they can exploit for their own personal (or political gains). And some seem so detached from their actions, even violence means nothing as they can’t imagine the effect on people of the other side.

But then some people do manage to take a breath and do some good.

I don’t really believe that people are born good or evil. And I’m not sure I really believe in personality – that we are just one thing or another. But I do believe in childhood, and learning, and role modelling and culture and norms. And I also think that all this violence now, can only breed more violence later as more people are damaged as they watch and learn that this is the only way to be. So those people being violent now – you are the cause of more violence in the future. But, a massive appreciation to Henry Nowak’s parents who in a time of absolute devastation managed to role model decency and goodness and I just hope that within all the point scoring and anger more people learned from their behaviour than that of all the others we are constantly hearing about.
Pnewsology – the one about what good parenting is in the modern world (and how on earth should we manage risk?)

05/31/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with James Cannon at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 29/05/2026)

Week ending 29/05/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

Parenting is hard and this week the news has been filled with stories highlighting how difficult it is to get it right.

There have been a series of tragedies involving teenagers and somewhere in the background many parents must feel just devastated. The news of the 3 teenage boys who raped and filmed 2 teenaged girls but avoided a custodial sentence, rumbles on as it is referred to the higher courts.

A teenager was stabbed in Brighton and at least 7 young people have drowned in open water this week during the heat wave.

How do we keep our children safe? Where is the line between stifling them and keeping them indoors under our watchful eye versus giving them enough freedom to grow up and learn how to deal with risk? And how do we teach our children to behave well and respect others without driving them into rebellion through relentless preaching?

I was always more risk averse when my kids were little than I probably should have been but then heard about a tragedy happening during a gap year in South Africa. I looked at my little ones and thought – when you are 18 you can do whatever you like. Between now and then I need to let you takes risks, fail and learn so that when you go on your gap year you are better prepared. I think it worked (so far) but it was hard going and definitely much more work and much more worrying than having them bubble wrapped!

And then we have had reports about a ‘lost generation’ of young people who are out of work and education due to a perfect storm of COVID, mental health, AI taking entry level jobs and social media. And we also had the report that ‘social media is as bad as smoking’ causing all sorts of problems particularly for young people. All of this making it even harder for parents to get it right.

How do we get our children off their phones (when they love them), into school (when they hate it) and into jobs which are boring and not what they expected adult life to be like? And how do we get them to move out so they can on with their lives when wages are low and rents are high?

I am quite conflict avoidant, hate rows and don’t like public arguments! But parenting is not just about managing risk it’s also about managing conflict and deciding which fights to have and which avoid. This generation are being dealt a difficult hand by factors beyond ours and their control. But parents also need to step in and whilst sometimes this can seem like a battle (get off your phone, get into school, just get a job any job!!) these are battles worth fighting for the longer-term gains!

So – I think parenting is a job which is really difficult to get right. But sometimes it’s better to make it difficult now (take risks, have the battles) and reap the rewards in the future than go for an easy life now but which backfires later.
Pnewsology – the one about money and what happens when it gets into politics

05/28/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with James Cannon at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 22/05/2026)

Week ending 22/05/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

The gap between the rich and poor is getting bigger and this week’s news has been filled with stories of both.

The Beckhams became billionaires, Oasis joined the rich list and Elon Musk is set to be a trillionaire (so many zeros it hard to even imagine it!). We also learned that HS2 is to cost over £100 billion, which is more than a trip to the moon and its not even going to be very fast.

Whilst at the same time, on the same planet, the sinkhole in Godstone is still there a year later devasting local businesses and causing people to have to relocate, many women leaving prison have nowhere to live and supermarkets are being asked to cap their food prices as normal people struggle to lead normal lives.

There is a lot of money around but most of it sits in the pockets (and off shore bank accounts) of a very few.

But as well as this blatant unfairness, this week we have also seen what happens when money gets into politics. The US held elections in Kentucky between the incumbent Republican Thomas Massie who has been named ‘Mr No’ and been very critical of Trump, and Ed Gallrein, who Trump likes. It turns out that money really does matter and having spent over $20 million on an advertising campaign to attack Massie, Gallrein won! The money was mostly from Trump and Miriam Adelson who in turn donated over $100 million for Trump’s own campaign. Surprisingly (!) Massie has been a massive advocate of releasing the Epstein Files (which Trump is in) and of removing support from Israel (which Adelson supports). The only consolation is that Massie now has 7 months of impunity and says will read out the redacted names from the Epstein files! Well all that money backfired a bit at least! Lets hope he stays away from open fire escapes.

And here in the UK the saga of the Nigel Farage’s £5 million is ongoing. He seems to think it’s fine to take money. Reform UK is just a limited company owned by him and Richard Tice so the extra money comes in handy! The rule of law however, seems not so keen!

But some good news! Prince William has announced that he will sell off 20% of his Duchy property and use the money for property and nature projects and Wes Streeting has said he will look into a wealth tax (which works).

The massive gap between the rich and poor is wrong for so many reasons. Clearly the poor suffer and have less money. And clearly their lives are harder, their health is worse and it is so much harder for the next generation to do better than the last. And then when money gets into power, the rich do everything they can to rig the system and make the gap even bigger with tax breaks for themselves and cuts to education and health care for others. But on top of this, the perception of massive inequality is also bad for us. Seeing people with so much more money, living indulgent lives and not caring about the society they live in creates resentment, bitterness and anger which makes being poor even worse.

I accept that some people have more money than others and that maybe this will always be the case but we need to have system that’s rigged in our favour not theirs. But we also just need to get them to pay their fair share of tax. I pay mine because I believe I should, because I am too scared not too and because I get a glow of smugness for being such a good citizen. I think they would also pay theirs if there were consequences for not doing – so close the loopholes and sort this out. But I also think many (not all!) would pay up if we rewarded them for doing so! Not more money! Just a celebration each year of who paid the most tax! Sweden and Norway do it! They could compete for being the best taxpayer, we could all cheer and then we could get their money – just as we should do!
Pnewsology – the one about everybody changing jobs (and why we need to trust politicians!)

05/18/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with James Cannon at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 15/05/2026)

Week ending 15/05/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

At the start of the week the internationally renowned cyclist Katie Archibald announced a change of jobs and that she had falling in love with nursing. That’s interesting I thought – why do people leave their jobs and what thinking is involved. But then as the week progressed people were leaving their jobs left right and centre and it now looks as if Keir Starmer might be leaving his as well!

Following the local elections about 2000 councillors lost their jobs and were forced either to go back to what they did before or find a new career. Six government aids then stood down from their key roles in government and 5 ministers resigned including Jess Phillips and Wes Streeting who wrote very public, detailed and sometimes accusatory resignation letters.

And now Andy Burnham has announced he will give up being the Mayor of Manchester and a local MP Josh Simons, has given up his role so Andy Burnham can get a chance at the top job.

So will Keir stand down or will he fight? And will he manage to do it with dignity or will his, and many other political careers, end with a send of failure?

Changing jobs is a massive decision for most of us as we factor in our rent or mortgage payments, the monthly bills, the impact on our pensions and the cost of childcare not to mention our happiness, sense of fulfilment and determination to make a contribution.

This can be a drip drip process as we weigh up the pros and cons and slowly come to a considered decision that the best thing is to make a change. Or at times it can be more or an epiphany when we wake up one morning and just think ‘enough’s enough’ I just have to get out.

But for others who have family money, trust funds or live off the interest of interest (apparently this is the rich person’s goal??) they can just jump whenever they feel like it in the safe knowledge that their parents’ or even ancestors’ money will see them through – what a different life that must be!

But for Keir, he also has to weigh up the good of the country. He was voted in with a massive majority for 5 years and has only done two. I’m not a massive fan and would love someone with passion and policies to do some good and move the country away from the slide into racism which seems to happen when people are feeling angry, ignored and poor. But it is always possible that Keir going could make things worse. Months of a leadership contest, labour MPs arguing in public, criticising each other, looking inwards not outwards can’t be good and makes politicians look petty and self-obsessed. When angry, ignored and poor the mantra seems not only be to blame ‘the other’ and right now that seem to be migrants, but also to believe that ‘all politicians are the same’. Together these two beliefs are toxic and dangerous. Clearly, we get a move to the right and we end up with far-right marches like we had at the weekend. Blaming someone seems to make people feel better. But once we lose faith in politicians and tar them all with the same brush, we also strangely seem to become more tolerant of corruption, lying and general criminal activity rather than less. If one politician is corrupt, lies or breaks the law we call it out and expect them to be brought to trial. But once we believe they all are the same we seem able to ignore it as its just what we expect. And once that happens – well we know where that is heading! The Americans seem completely able to tolerate all laws being broken at once! We mustn’t go there as well.

So, Keir and his contenders may need to weigh up their domestic finances against their ambitions. And they must also weigh up the bigger picture. But even more importantly we need to believe that this is all about the bigger picture – and about us not them. Trust in leadership is one of the biggest predictors of stability. And we need that now. So, if they do argue, my hope is that they do it all behind closed doors. And when someone emerges as the leader (whether Keir or not) we need to believe that politicians are not all the same so that when one or even many of them step out of line we can still be bothered to make sure they see their day in court.
Pnewsology – the one about the need for a bit of old fashioned class!

05/01/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with James Cannon at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 01/05/2026)

Week ending 01/05/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

Yet again (and again) we have had a week of madness! Bombings, death, kidnapping, lies and just general chaos. And the King and Queen met Trump.

Early on the week we watched replay after replay of the attempted assassination attempt on Trump and his cronies at the Correspondent’s Dinner and watched with amazement as an armed man simply ran through security before being pinned to the ground. What then followed were many debates about whether it was real or not – did Trump set it up so he could justify his ballroom? Why did he look so unphased when the shots were fired? Was the shooter linked with Iran? Or Israel? All contrasted with a sense that of course it was real and if we call everything a conspiracy we are simply falling into the trap of the far right and not believing anything! We do live in strange times.

We also watched a nun being attacked in occupied Jerusalem by an illegal Israeli settler; more bombings by Israel in Lebanon – the death toll now matches 9/11; and ongoing attacks in the West Bank by the settlers of Palestinian homes. Then, just when we think we can’t be shocked anymore by the lack of consequences, a 58 boat flotilla carrying food and baby milk to Gaza was attacked in international waters by the IDF who then kidnapped 175 activists near Crete. All surrounded by resounding silence as nothing is done.

More locally – a teacher in Epsom lied to her pupils that she had been shot in a war zone whilst fighting for the Australian forces. She hadn’t. A woman from Northampton was pinned to the ground by the police following a ‘welfare call’ – it turns out they had taken a film of her on the toilet?! And a fish and chip shop owner in Hampshire told of his upset and near loss of business after his ex-partner falsely accused him of all sorts including being a paedophile.

All a bit bonkers! The world feels like it is going mad.

And then The King and Camilla went to the US to meet Trump. Some said he shouldn’t go as this was playing into Trump’s hand. I didn’t have a view. But then I listened to his speech, watched him meet the cabinet and heard the repeated standing ovations and suddenly I felt proud! Our King (and his script writer!) turns out to be calm, clever, funny, informed and a very skilled orator! He landed key points about Ukraine, climate change and world stability whilst at the same time pleasing politicians from across the spectrum and all with a twinkle. And he just had class. Trump could be seen patting Melania’s bottom. Our King would never do that! Trump pushed in front of them both to shake the hands of his own cabinet. Our King stepped aside with a wry smile and just carried on. And Trump tried to give him one of his alpha male handshakes followed by a hug and Our King was having none of it.

Who knows if it will have any effect or whether any effect will last. But this, week amidst all the chaos Our King left me with a small feeling of hope that at least there are still some decent people in the world.
Pnewsology – the one about coming second and how some people always need to be the best!

04/17/2026

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with James Cannon at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 17/04/2026)

Week ending 17/04/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

It’s been an odd week watching the same wars killing people rumbling on but with some odd bits and pieces happening in between. And a lot of these seem to relate to coming second.

We saw Justin Rose from Hampshire come second in the US Masters for the 4^th time and watched as Arsenal lost to Bournemouth leaving their fans to wonder if, yet again, Arsenal will have a year of coming second without winning any medals. We also saw Prince Harry, who has seemingly struggled with being ‘The Spare’ to his brother, try to relaunch his career with a tour of Australia and heard how Brooklyn Beckham is still estranged from his family, who much as they may have tried their best, have made him feel second to ‘Brand Beckham’.

And bizarrely we have seen Trump try to put himself on a par with Jesus (??!!) and heard as him and his cronies challenged the Pope about who knows the bible the best! A question instantly answered when Hesgeth quoted ‘the scriptures’ which turned out to be a line from Samual L Jackson in the film ‘Pulp Fiction’! Trump and co seem to hate coming second at anything – even Godliness!

Being second can therefore be a hard role to deal with.

Some seem to fall at the final hurdle and can’t quite take the lead. Maybe due to self-sabotage and actively undermining their own success? Through not quite having the self-belief and spiralling into a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure? Or simple complacency and a belief that success should be there’s without putting in the effort? Good old sports psychology can help here with tricks such as positive self-talk, reframing previous failures and visualising success.

Others, live a life of envy and bitterness as they feel overlooked or overshadowed by those that by accident of birth came first and get all the glory. For these – some perspective taking and gratitude could do the trick.

But for those who need to win and beat everyone else at everything? Maybe they need to take a good long hard look at themselves! Work out what they are compensating for and take themselves off to a remote island on their own for some very prolonged reflection – preferably with very little food and water!

But there are some benefits to being second. JD Vance and David Lammy seem to have struck up a strange friendship and are spending time together to discuss war and Rachel Reeves has finally used her seconder role to speak out against the US / Israel attack on Iran. Perhaps they feel freer to speak as they are not in charge? Maybe they bond over a good moan about their leaders? Maybe it’s a relief to be able to blame those above? Or maybe they are just waiting until it is their time to take control?

And then we’ve heard from Jamie Murray as he retires from tennis after winning multiple awards for doubles tennis in the Olympics, David Cup and International tournaments. He seems to have thrived even though his younger brother Andy is more famous! And Andy seems to have massive respect for his older brother without any sense of envy or bitterness of either side. What a fabulous family they seem to be! For them, coming second seems not even to be a thing. Their mum seems to have done a great job!

We all have a place in the world and feeling settled in this place is probably the greatest key to happiness. Some desire to rise up the ranks can drive ambition, hard work, and a determination to make thing better for both ourselves and those around us. But wanting to be better than everyone is a sad state of affairs that creates envy, frustration and a destructive determination to show everyone how great you are (when you are clearly not). What we need is a sense of self belief that is realistic and fair and a sense that ‘good enough’ is often better than the best. And may be what we also need is for Jamie and Andy’s mum to parent all the men currently ruining the world.

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