The Broad Experience

I did a show last year called Professional Women, No Kids. It did way better than I expected. This is a 7-minute show on the same topic, using some of my interview tape that didn't make it into that first show. Do you have to be a mother to be a 'real woman'? Lots of people think so. My guest and I discuss why motherhood is still the ultimate in womanhood even as fewer women have children.

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In this episode two men share their views on women and men in the workplace. One is straight, one gay, one works in tech and one in the arts.We talk about how gay men can be sexist too, why society values masculine qualities over feminine ones, and what one company, SoundCloud, is doing to increase the number of female engineers who work there (including making its job descriptions less exacting).

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India has a huge population and a burgeoning economy. More and more women are getting an education, yet only a third of women work outside the home. In this episode we hear from Indian journalist Shaili Chopra, founder of SheThePeople.tv. We discuss some obstacles Indian women face that western women don't, and why they badly need more female role models. We talk about the influence caste still has on Indian society, why Shaili's nanny has her own nanny, and why Shaili doesn't call herself a feminist.

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Most of us have a bad breakup with work at some point. You don't have to be fired for things to end on a sour note, but however the end comes, leaving a job in difficult circumstances is one of the hardest experiences to go through. In this show we meet two women who know this first hand (so do I - more on that in the show). We hear their stories and get some advice on how to recover your confidence and your livelihood after a tricky exit.

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What could be more male than a construction site? Only 9 percent of US jobs in the industry belong to women, and even fewer involve manual labor. So what drove Renee Mercado to spend her days outdoors, managing a crew of curious and sometimes suspicious guys? In this show we talk about what drew her to this work, the sexist comments she hears on a daily basis, and how she feels she's making a difference in a man's world.

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In this show we hear from some familiar guests, using parts of our conversation you've never heard. Lauren Tucker heads the tech division of an ad agency. She talks candidly about race and whether bosses ever see your full potential at work. Mary Kopczynski of 8of9 Consulting says women have to claim credit for their work or others won't notice their achievements. Curt Rice of the University of Tromsø talks about what it's like being a man advocating loudly for women in the workplace. And Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper reminds us it's not just women who make career sacrifices for their families.

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Subtle gender discrimination at work, female guilt, and how to say no - these are the topics we discuss in this show, which I first released in the autumn of 2013. One guest is a young journalist who didn't even believe in gender discrimination until she was forced to recognize it. The other a seasoned businesswoman with distinct views on what it takes to get ahead, and good tips on how to get rid of guilt.

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This time, a show on women in religious roles. It's more common than it used to be for women to become rabbis or priests. But these hard-won jobs aren't without their frustrations as well as their triumphs. In this show we meet three women. One went straight to her calling from college, the other two are career-changers. We talk about how women are viewed by the congregation, what you can get away with when you preach, and how getting ahead can still be tougher for women - even within denominations where women are allowed to be leaders.

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Countries like the US and UK may be doing well in many areas, but not when it comes to women in politics. The US Congress is about 20% women. In the UK, Parliament is 23% female. Yes, it's an improvement on former decades, but in 2015 why aren't more women holding power at a national level?We have two fantastic, outspoken guests on today's show: Megan Murphy, the Financial Times Washington bureau chief, and Madeleine Kunin, former (and first woman) governor of Vermont. We discuss the landscape for women in politics today, what life as a female politician is actually like, and why it's so important that more women go into politics in the first place.

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More and more men are staying at home to look after kids while their wives or girlfriends support the family. In this show we explore what that situation means for women's careers, and what these role reversals mean for men. Evidence shows society still doesn't wholly accept stay-at-home fathers - that we still view men as type-A go-getters who aren't 'real men' if they take on a caregiving role. In the US even taking a brief paternity leave can be a fraught issue. But will women ever be truly equal at work until more men become caregivers?

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