Share
It's All Relative with Dr Eliza Filby
A History of Working Motherhood (Professor Helen McCarthy)
Eliza is joined this week by Professor Helen McCarthy to discuss the history of working motherhood in the UK from the 1900s to the present day. Helen manages to put our contemporary struggles around working motherhood, childcare and parenting into a historical context covering everything from the origins of working from home for women (spoiler: they've been doing it for centuries!), to parenting pressures (nothing new) and how the professionalisation of women's careers in the 1990's was only possible by the reintroduction of a servant economy (mostly performed by women of colour and immigrants). What have successive governments, feminist groups and workplaces got right? And what do we need to do to ensure that all working mothers (not just white collar workers) get a decent wage, benefits and manage their caring responsibilities. You can connect with Helen on Twitter and buy her excellent book 'Doubles Lives' here.
Do follow me, Dr. Eliza Filby, on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and sign up to my weekly substack.
More episodes
View all episodes
Jaded The Must Read Novel of 2024 (with Author Ela Lee)
30:35||Season 2'Jade isn't even my real name. Jade began as my Starbucks name, because all children of immigrants have a Starbucks name.' Jaded is the must read novel of 2024, a debut from former City lawyer, Ela Lee. It's an interrogating exploration of race, class, work and sexual assault, not to mention what we tell ourselves (and others) in order to fit in at any cost. Ela sits down with Eliza and talks us through how she wrote Jaded in lockdown, millennial novels and heroines and the complexities and contortions involved in intersectional identity in the 21st century. You can follow Ela Lee and purchase her book Jaded here. For all things Dr. Eliza Filby follow here.Beyond the Scaremongering: Here's what AI is really going to do (Dr. Lewis Liu)
38:51||Season 2Is AI over-hyped? Or do we dangerously underestimate its looming impact? Which businesses should embrace AI, and which might resist it? In this fascinating episode Eliza talks to tech entrepreneur and leading AI expert Dr Lewis Lui about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, as well as the risks and complexities surrounding it. Lewis began his career at McKinsey before advising private equity and law firms. He went on to found Eigen Technologies, which enables businesses to transform their data and documents into powerful, actionable insights. He holds a Doctorate in Atomic and Laser Physics from the University of Oxford and a Masters in Theoretical Physics. He also received Harvard University's first ever Joint Bachelors in Fine Arts and Physics, and it's this passion for the creative and the technical - the human and the machine - that makes him such a compelling voice on how AI is going to transform our society. You can follow Lewis Liu and Eigen Technologies on on LinkedIn and @Eigen_Tech and @lewiszliu on X. #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #tech #innovationWhy Generations DO and DON'T MATTER (Prof. Bobby Duffy)
37:31||Season 2Eliza speaks to Prof. Bobby Duffy about the strengths and weaknesses of generational analysis; why it is useful, why it is not and how we can understand the generational gap a little better. Bobby and I had fun trying to dissect stereotypes from fact and some of the methodological challenges of analysing society through the prism of age. This is a good one! You can buy Bobby's book here and follow him on Twitter here.Do follow me, Dr. Eliza Filby, on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and sign up to my weekly substack.How We Address White Supremacy in Our Education System (Jeffrey Boakye)
37:21||Season 2Today Eliza sits down with writer, campaigner and educator Jeffrey Boakye to discuss the intersection of race and education. Race is inescapable when it comes to our education system; 86% of teachers are white even though 1 in 4 primary school pupils are from an ethnic minority and 1 million school children speak a language other than English as a first language. The disconnect is real. Here Jeffrey talks personally about the challenges of being a black teacher in a white system. Crucially, Jeffrey addresses what needs to be discussed and explored not only in our schools and in our businesses but across society at large. This is a MUST listen episode for anyone interested in diversity, teaching and history. Jeffrey goes deep on how we can all talk about racial differences in a way that is constructive and inquisitive rather than built on fear and our past. You can follow Jeffrey on Twitter and LinkedIn and buy 'I heard what you said' and do check out his website and latest book, Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer.Do follow me, Dr. Eliza Filby, on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and sign up to my weekly substack.7. Why TikTok is BAD for the creator economy (Sam Barcroft)
34:07||Season 2, Ep. 7It is the most desired profession for young people today but only 4% of influencers earn more than $100k a year... that means a lot of frustrated wannabes in an era when it is becoming ever more difficult to gain a following. Creator burnout is real and platforms are proliferating. This week Eliza sits down with the founder of Barcroft Media, Sam Barcroft, to discuss the future of the creator economy; Is TikTok bad for creators? Why niche is the way forward, why the metaverse is meh... and why Sam is in favour of a state regulated internet. This is essential listening for creators, for parents with Gen Z kids and basically any one who is interested in the future of the internet. You can follow Sam here and follow his Creatorville blog here. Do follow me, Dr. Eliza Filby, on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and sign up to my weekly substack.5. How pretty people RUINED the internet (Marie Le Conte and Chris Stokel-Walker )
36:52||Season 2, Ep. 5Join Eliza on an nostalgic tech trip with journalists Marie Le Conte and Chris Stokel-Walker in which we discussed millennials' relationship with the internet; from the early days of vlogs and blogs to the rise of monetised influencer culture and the birth of millennial self-branding. How did we mature on-line and what does the future hold as we hit mid-life and are no longer the "kool kids" of the internet? Should we feel nostalgia, relief or anger that all the tech optimism we felt in our youth has dissipated? You can connect with Marie and Chris on Twitter. You can buy Marie's book here and Chris' library catalogue here. Do follow me, Dr. Eliza Filby, on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and sign up to my weekly substack.4. Why ONE simple change would trigger a revolution in fatherhood (Elliot Rae and Dr. Jasmine Kelland)
36:21||Season 2, Ep. 4Eliza sits down with fatherhood speaker, activist and mobiliser, Elliot Rae and academic Dr. Jasmine Kelland to discuss whether we are seeing a revolution in fatherhood and what we can do to change the gender in-balance when it comes to childcare. Why is take-up of shared parental leave so low? What can companies do to help fathers and what struggles do fathers face in the workplace? What impact has the Covid pandemic had on fatherhood? How does the conversation around fatherhood intersect along class and race lines? And what's the one change that Elliot and Jasmine would like to see happen to help fathers be better fathers. I had so many questions for these two and they certainly delivered - we are seeing such important steps around enhancing fatherhood and these two experts are critical voices in this conversation. A podcast not to be missed. You can find Elliot on LinkedIn and you can buy his book here. You can also follow Jasmine here. Do follow me, Dr. Eliza Filby, on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and sign up to my weekly substack.3. Why Millennials Need to Have Kids! (Dr. Paul Morland)
31:06||Season 2, Ep. 3Eliza chats to demographer Dr. Paul Morland about what Elon Musk has defined as a "bigger risk to civilisation than global warming", the demographic ticking time bomb. Dr. Morland takes us through the complex subject of demography, explaining how a combination of low birthrates, ageing society and low infant mortality is playing out across the globe and is the major cause for all sorts of issues; from innovation to war, from funding public services to economic success. Dr. Morland explains what an ageing world means for us all and argues for a pro-natal culture, incentivising people to breed from taxing of the childfree to prizes for producing three kids. But what about personal choice? And how can we feminise the study of demographics so that the data and the fear mongering better reflect how people, especially women, live their lives?You can buy Paul's Book 'Tomorrow's People' here.Do follow me, Dr. Eliza Filby, on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and sign up to my weekly substack.