In this episode, I'm talking to the team behind the research project Bloody Work, which is about managing menstrual disorders at work.

Drs. Cara Reed, Jenna Pandeli, and Helen Williams are investigating the hidden physical and emotional labour employees undertake to manage painful or leaking bodies while remaining productive.

We discuss the motivation for the project, participants' experiences, and what they'd like to see change as a result of this project. We also discuss the Ideal Worker, marginalisation, and the general shame and silence that comes along with having a body that bleeds.

Find out more about the project here: Bloody Work instagram

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Listen to Part 1 first to understand our references to the Puritans and the Work Ethic.

In this episode, Professor Anderson and I discuss whether tech bros are the latest version of landlords that the Puritans would have despised; the core source of the feminisation of poverty; how labour is entirely mis-valued; and the invisible apparatus of unpaid care work that firmly holds an ungrateful capitalist system in place.

Buy her book Hijacked here

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Other references:

Callaci, E. (2026). Wages for housework: The Story of a Movement, an Idea, a Promise. Penguin Group.

Mazzucato, M. (2018). The value of everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy. PublicAffairs.

Varoufakis, Y. (2023). Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism. Random House.

Sometimes when you have big questions about work, science can't help you. When the questions concern one's understanding of self, of what is 'good' and 'right', and what we ought to do - well, you need to talk to a philosopher.

In this episode, I speak with Professor Elizabeth Anderson - John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy and Women's & Gender Studies.

We talk about the evolution of the work ethic in this Part One. We discuss having a calling, the conflation of money-making and goodness, and the original promoters of Meaningful work.

In an upcoming Part Two, we'll talk about care work, billionaires as 'land' owners, and how the Puritanical past might inform a Future of Work!

Prof Anderson's book: Hijacked

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Does remote work really make us lonely?

Is the Right to Disconnect enough as a written policy in the face of power imbalances?

How can organisations shape the implementation of remote work so that it actually... works?

Dr Eva Rimbau Gilabert talks to me in this episode about all of the above, and so much more!

Find Eva's research here.

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Citations from the episode:

Emanuel, N., Harrington, E., & Pallais, A. (2026). Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health. Science, 392(6802), eaec7671. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aec7671

Gajendran, R. S., Ponnapalli, A. R., Wang, C., & Javalagi, A. A. (2024). A dual pathway model of remote work intensity: A meta‐analysis of its simultaneous positive and negative effects. Personnel Psychology, 77(4), 1351–1386. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12641

He, T., Wei, L., Goodman, M. S., Pagán, J. A., Cuevas, A. G., & Bather, J. R. (2025). Remote work and loneliness: Evidence from a nationally representative sample of employed U.S. adults. Journal of Affective Disorders, 393(Pt B), 120456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.120456

Shandell, M. S., Elliott, C. E., & Grant, A. M. (2026). Worship me at the office altar: Why narcissistic leaders resist remote work. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 195, 104496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2026.104496

What does it mean when people say an organisation is "Queer friendly"?

What is the tension between a place of work and one's pursuit of emancipation?

Can Queer alternatives improve public discourse about the Future of Work?

In this episode, Dr. Olimpia Burchiellaro and I engage in dialogue on these topics and more!

Find her substack here and her book here.

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Works Cited:

Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822395324

MacLeavy, J., & Pitts, F. H. (2024). The Handbook for the Future of Work. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003327561

Milian, R. P., & Wijesingha, R. (2023). Why do EDI policies fail? An inhabited institutions perspective. Equality Diversity and Inclusion an International Journal, 42(3), 449–464. https://doi.org/10.1108/edi-02-2022-0048

Paul Gilroy

Sometimes our bodies experience events that are complicated and difficult - and not necessarily compatible with how we, our organisation, and even society desires a certain neatness in relation to work.

This episode I speak with Dr Heidi Reed from Audencia Business School. Her research looks at Vulnerability and often draws on Ethics of Care. We talk about her research on and lived experience of pregnancy loss while employed.

We discuss how bodies that menstruate, get pregnant, become not pregnant, go through menopause, etc. can come to be perceived as too messy, too tricky, and too taboo to deal with in a work space. We reflect on what consequences that may have for the person experiencing loss, as well as those around them. We also discuss the potential for doing things differently, particularly in the face of a rapidly changing Future of Work.

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References

Reed, H. (2025). I can('t) talk about it at work: Stigma entanglement and the Epistemic vulnerability paradox. Gender Work and Organization, 33(2), 367–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.70044

If you don't have Wiley access, request access to the paper here

Pregnancy Loss Research Group (HR toolkit and other resources)

Short interview with Joan Tronto explaining the Ethics of Care.

Scheibmayr, Isabella. 2024. “Organizing Vulnerability Exploring Judith Butler's Conceptualization of Vulnerability to Study Organizations.”Gender, Work & Organization31(4): 1385–1408. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13103.

The discourse surrounding the Future of Work still needs a lot of improvement. With far too much power handed over to that which does not have society’s best interest at heart, we may be in danger of forgetting a few important things. We have agency. The future has not happened. There is hope.

In this episode, I talk to Dr Nicky Dries of the Future of Work Lab, KU Leuven. We discuss what is still missing from the conversation around jobs, AI, and the future - and what needs to change in the conversation and in our actions.

Listen in for a necessary discussion that centers human quality, critiques predictive analysis, and provides alternative imaginaries for possible futures informed by radical hope.

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References

Dries, N., Luyckx, J., & Rogiers, P. (2023). Imagining the (Distant) future of work. Academy of Management Discoveries, 10(3), 319–350. https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2022.0130

Dries, N., Luyckx, J., & Rogiers, P. (2024). What 570 Experts Predict the Future of Work Will Look Like. Harvard Business Review.

Frey, Carl Benedikt & Osborne, Michael A., 2017. "⁠The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?,⁠" Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-280.

Mollick, Ethan, (2023). Detecting the Secret Cyborgs: The AI Trap for Organizations, One Useful Thing.

Véliz, C. (2026). Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI. Doubleday.

Women are frequently told that they ought to be more confident at work. Confidence is often offered as a silver bullet for every challenge women encounter in their careers.

But do women actually 'lack confidence' at work - or is it simply a convenient way to ignore structural issues? Is it an individual barrier that must be overcome - or are there more useful actions available?

This episode, Lara Pecis talks about her recent paper, co-authored with Elisabeth Kelan, "Fix Thyself: Un/Doing Confidence in Women's Entrepreneurship". In it, confidence as an individualized women's issue is analyzed and evidence-based solutions are recommended. We discuss discourse on confidence, what it means and how it shapes exclusions and potentials. We talk about individualization are its outcomes, and actions for real change - such as collective care practices.

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References

Pecis, L. (2022) Case Study. Inclusive innovation: Sustaining productivity and socio-economic inclusion through innovation centres, hubs and districts. Available at: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/media/lancaster-university/content-assets/documents/lums/research/Case-Study-Inclusive-Innovation.pdf

Pecis, L. and Banerjee, A. (2020). Inclusive innovation: sustaining productivity and socio-economic inclusion through innovation centre, hubs and districts. Report for ESRC Productivity Insight Network. Available at: https://productivityinsightsnetwork.co.uk/app/uploads/2020/02/PecisBanerjee_InclusiveInnovation_February2020.pdf

Policy Impact: work cited in ‘Female entrepreneurship’, Women and Equality Committee (WEC), UK Government, Published on 22 October 2025, available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmwomeq/711/report.html

Written evidence for the Women and Equalities Committee, UK Parliament, published on 25/03/2025, Available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/139229/pdf/