Fernanda Santos moved to the U.S. from Brazil to go to graduate school, but ended up staying and forging a career in journalism. Her work is a thread throughout this episode (she was an early believer in the mantra ‘never work for free’), but this story is also about life and its unexpected twists, and how Fernanda’s immigrant experience -and journalist training - helped when she was forced to confront a future she never expected.

Episode 156: An Immigrant's Tale

In this episode I hand over the reins to Lauren Schiller, host of Inflection Point. In this show she and writer Ruth Whippman (a fellow Brit) discuss the very American idea that if you just try hard enough, you can get pretty much anything you want - from a better figure to a better job. But Ruth says self-belief plus a few girl power T-shirts and social media slogans do not an equal society make. Tune in to hear Lauren and Ruth discuss what needs to change for 'empowerment' to lead to real power.

Episode 157: More Than Power Poses

A lot of us have been able to work from home during lockdown these last few months. One group of workers that hasn't is paid caregivers - aides, mainly women, who are paid by the hour to help elderly, frail and disabled people accomplish some of the tasks of daily living.

In this show we meet two women who have been doing care work for three decades - Susie Rivera in Texas and Maria Colville in Massachusetts. Their job is one of the fastest growing in the U.S. But it pays poorly and a lot of people don't see its importance...until they need that care themselves. Some clients are grateful and gracious, others less so. 

Each woman feels called to her role. As Maria puts it, "The opportunity to make an impact in someone else's life," is its own reward.

Episode 158: Caring in a Crisis

Ainissa Ramirez has loved science since the age of four. But her dreams of becoming a scientist were almost squelched when she got to college. When she graduated she vowed to make other people's journeys through science better than her own. 

Today, she's helping thousands of people understand and appreciate how the world around them works - and maybe even go into science themselves. In this episode we talk about the influence her grandmother had on Ainissa’s life, the ups and downs of her career, leaving academia to go out on her own, and some of the amazing (often untold) stories in her new book, The Alchemy of Us. She also has some solid advice for other women scientists who may be finding their workplaces...challenging.

Episode 159: Science Evangelist

When I first made this show I could never have imagined how large a role both stress and getting outside would play in our lives in 2020.



In this episode I talk to science writer Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix, about how spending time outside can help lower our stress levels and allow us to gain perspective on daily problems. Most of us live and work in urban environments, spending hours a day in front of a screen. Nothing could be less natural. In this show we talk about how spending time outdoors can improve our lives in multiple ways, and how women can benefit even more than men.

Episode 160: Stress and the Benefits of Being Outside (re-release)

In this episode I sit down with Jessi Hempel, host of LinkedIn's Hello Monday podcast about the future of work.

If you have family responsibilities the future may have shrunk to this week and managing what's right in front of you. As Jessi puts it, for many of us career questions 'exist in a different plane in time, and we're not existing in that plane right now.' She and I talk about how the last six months have affected women's careers in particular, and what might happen next. We discuss who's able to get ahead right now, and the delights of a supportive manager whose home/work life is as crazy as your own.

We don't have a crystal ball, but we wonder - will this pandemic have lasting effects on women's progress?

Episode 161: What is Happening to Women's Careers Right Now?

The Broad Experience tackles some of the big issues facing women in the workplace today. Host Ashley Milne-Tyte and her guests discuss the things everyone's thinking about, but not always talking about. Each show is 20-25 minutes.