How Do We Manage?

In recent weeks the British government has announced that social media will be banned for under 16s. Australia implemented their own ban last year. Social media bans have attracted mixed reviews; some say that they will keep children safe, others say it takes the responsibility away from the big tech companies.

Our guest today helps us to understand what social media bans are, and what the effects of them could be. Harry Dyer is a digital sociologist and lecturer at the University of East Anglia. He researches the impact of social media on identity and education - particularly in children. We live in a world that has adopted social media as a part of daily life - so is completely removing it from our kid’s lives just delaying their digital education? And kids are savvy, does banning it mean they won’t find a way to use it?

In this episode we’ll learn what it means to be a ‘digital native’ - and why that term is unhelpful; why digital education isn’t currently up to scratch; and what children are doing to get around social media bans in the countries that have already put them in place.

Resources & Links 

Information on the upcoming UK social media ban

Host: Stephanie von Bismarck 

Guest: Harry Dyer

Producer: Holly Fisher

Production Manager: Angela Crago 

Executive Producer: Ellie Di Martino 

The series was recorded and edited at PodShop studios

How we navigate the future in an uncertain world is tricky. But for this week’s guest it is her job. Amy Webb is a futurist; someone who uses data, evidence and methodology to predict multiple plausible outcomes for the future. Amy is the CEO of Future Today Strategy Group, who advise leaders and businesses on how to strategise for potential outcomes. She publishes an annual ‘Convergence Outlook’; a report that looks at the multitude of trends, how they collide and the storms they might create.

So what can we learn from a futurist about how to weather any upcoming storms? Stephanie speaks to Amy Webb about how AI might affect both our professional and personal lives; what the safest jobs and skills of the future are; and the importance of remaining curious about life.

Resources & Links 

Future Today Strategy Group: https://ftsg.com/

Host: Stephanie von Bismarck 

Guest: Amy Webb

Producer: Holly Fisher

Production Manager: Angela Crago 

Executive Producer: Ellie Di Martino 

The series was recorded and edited at PodShop studios

Motherhood has created social and political change for centuries, so why has the act of growing, birthing and nurturing children been so overlooked as something that women just ‘do’?

Elinor Cleghorn is a historian and author, whose first book ‘Unwell Women’ documented the ways in which women’s health has been treated throughout the ages. Her latest book ‘A Woman’s Work: Reclaiming The Radical History of Mothering’ looks at how the documentation of motherhood in history has largely been stories of domesticity told by men, rather than the incredible impact that the role of the mother has had on everything from social reform to medicine.

In this episode Elinor will explain how the very basis of women’s healthcare in history stemmed from them being vessels for carrying children, and little else; the incredible women of the past who documented the realities of mothering; and the patterns in history that we can learn from today while navigating parenthood alongside the image of the ‘perfect mother’ on social media.

Resources & Links 

Buy Elinor’s books: ‘A Woman’s Work: Reclaiming The Radical History of Mothering’ and ‘Unwell Women’

Follow Elinor on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elinorcleghorn/

Host: Stephanie von Bismarck 

Guest: Elinor Cleghorn

Producer: Holly Fisher

Production Manager: Angela Crago 

Executive Producer: Ellie Di Martino 

The series was recorded and edited at PodShop studios

Did you know that playing on the monkey bars could help improve your child’s writing skills? It’s reported all over the world that our lives are becoming more sedentary than ever before, and the knock-on effects for children extend far beyond health issues.

Movement is key for cognitive development in children, and when a Christchurch-based teacher called Gill Connell recognised this in her classroom, she decided to do something about it. Gill is the founder of Moving Smart International. She has developed programmes that help children to develop the physical skills they need to help them learn, as well as learning language and other key skills through movement. Her programmes have been adopted by 30% of primary schools in New Zealand to support the way that children learn in the classroom. She is also the author of A Moving Child Is a Learning Child; and she facilitates online training for teachers. 

In this episode Gill Connell will tell us why movement and learning are so intrinsically linked, exercises you can do with your children to help them with their cognitive development, and the importance of free play and letting your imagination go for a wander.

Resources & Links 

Moving Smart 

website: http://movingsmart.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MovingSmartNow

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/movingsmart_nz/

Movement Matters Foundation Course: https://movingsmart.com/movement-matters-foundation-course/

Host: Stephanie von Bismarck 

Guest: Gill Connell

Producer: Holly Fisher

Production Manager: Angela Crago 

Executive Producer: Ellie Di Martino 

The series was recorded and edited at PodShop studios

According to the charity Women’s Aid, statistics show that nearly a third of women in the UK have experienced domestic abuse in some form. Ministers have called it a ‘national emergency’ and yet women who decide to press charges against their abuser can find themselves in an extremely precarious position once they are in court.

Dr Charlotte Proudman is a renowned barrister and activist who has vast experience representing female victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault in family court, which she has detailed in a book called ‘He Said She Said’. The book looks at some of the shocking findings for cases she has worked on - and their detrimental effects on mothers and children, as well as some of the landmark wins - getting the term ‘gaslighting’ defined as a form of domestic abuse in court, for example.

Today she joins Stephanie to talk about where the family court system fails to support victims and to understand the nuances of what domestic abuse can look like - and in turn, how this has a huge knock on effect for the safety of any children involved.

Please note: this episode contains topics of domestic abuse, sexual assault and child sexual abuse.

Resources & Links 

If you are a victim of domestic abuse or know someone is, you can find a list of resources provided by Right To Equality - Dr Charlotte Proudman’s non-profit organisation - here: https://righttoequality.org/survivor-resources/

Right To Equality: https://righttoequality.org/

Proudmans law firm: https://www.proudmans.com/

Follow Charlotte: https://www.instagram.com/drproudman/

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Host: Stephanie von Bismarck 

Guest: Dr Charlotte Proudman

Producer: Holly Fisher

Production Manager: Angela Crago 

Executive Producer: Ellie Di Martino 

The series was recorded and edited at PodShop studios