Intensive mothering. Parental burnout. The juggle is real. The series opens with a look at the relationship and distinctions between paid work and the unpaid work of mothering; the differences between intellectual and bodily work, and where mothering fits into all this. Is a woman’s place in the home, or the workplace, and what pressures or opportunities arise when mothers are in both?

Chine and Maddy discuss the realities of being pregnant and becoming mothers while working, and speak to experts about how motherhood and work have changed over the centuries, exploring how machines have shaped the experience of working women.

This is a podcast for everyone. All those with questions about what it means to be a person rather than a machine, and exactly where the distinction lies.

Chapters

00:00 The Struggles of New Motherhood

03:00 Exploring the Nature of Motherhood

05:59 The Intersection of Work and Motherhood

09:00 The Hidden Labor of Mothering

11:59 The Historical Context of Motherhood and Work

18:56 The Economic Value of Motherhood

25:12 The Evolution of Child Benefit and Feminism

29:31 The Impact of the Pandemic on Gender Roles

32:34 The Interdependence of Motherhood

36:01 Intensive Mothering in the Modern Age

40:22 The Complexity of Mothering Work

46:30 The Value of Mothering in Society

51:14 Exploring the Future of Motherhood

Featured in this episode: The Bear Cubs toddler group in London; Lucy Jones, author of Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood; Professor Helen McCarthy of Cambridge University, author of Double Lives: A History of Working Motherhood Dr Charlotte Faircloth, Associate Professor in the Social Research Institute at UCL, and Mary Harrington, contributing editor of Unherd, and author of Feminism Against Progress; speak to Chine at Howthelightgetsin festival; and theologian and writer Laura Fabrycky.

Keywords

motherhood, technology, work-life balance, societal expectations, maternal experience, historical context, economic value, motherhood and work, motherhood struggles, motherhood insights, motherhood, feminism, child benefit, pandemic, gender roles, intensive mothering, caregiving, societal value, interdependence, childcare

The Team:

🎙️ Hosts: Chine McDonald (@ChineMcDonald) and Madeleine Penninton (@mlmpennington)

🎬 Executive producer: Stephanie Tam

🎧 Audio editor and sound engineer: David Benjamin Blower

🎛️ Recording engineer and assistant producer: Daniel Turner

💡 Produced by the ‪@thinktanktheos‬ www.theosthinktank.co.uk/

With thanks to the Fetzer Institute