Libsyn Directory

#14 Period policies: Exploring the debate on menstrual leave | WeAreSTS

Release Date: 07/25/2022

#203 Baby-Botox: Anti-Aging Is Out Of Control | WeAreSTS

WeAreSTS

Children as young as eight are targeted by influencers and advertisers towards anti-aging products, from skin creams and anti-wrinkle devices to “baby botox”. Maddy Ross (Human Sciences ’25) investigates how influencers and social media algorithms drive anti-aging anxiety to ever increasing levels while industry advertising markets solutions to ever younger people, especially girls. She identifies increasing concerns over risks that are physical, psychological, and social. Are young people being exploited without even knowing it? Influencers play a key role in these processes, especially...

#202 Outlaw Ocean – Ian Urbina’s Book is STS1Book for 2024-25 | WeAreSTS

WeAreSTS

Ian Urbina’s 2019 book, Outlaw Ocean, brilliantly investigates hidden worlds of human activity on the high seas. From modern day pirates and traffickers to gargantuan fishing fleets to “freedom-loving” recluses and entrepreneurs, his stories build on the idea of oceans as lawless spaces well beyond the awareness of most people. He documents extremes of human behaviour. He also describes the extraordinary scale of extraction and exploitation that takes place off shore. In this world, who’s “free” and what are the consequences of “lawless” spaces? Outlaw Ocean is this year’s...

#201 Dark Matter and the Search for Elusive Evidence | WeAreSTS

WeAreSTS

What is dark matter? Mary Westover investigates, featuring insights from Dr. Joe McLaughlin and Dr. Marcello Messina. She visits the Gran Sasso Laboratory in Italy to understand how a research lab sunk deep into a mountain and holding a giant tank of liquid Xenon holds the promise of evidence for this most elusive substance. From the lab's mountain setting to the complex physics involved, this episode provides a deep dive into one of physics’ most perplexing questions. This episode is a practical project submitted by Mary Westover as part of her UCL degree, MSc Science Communication. She...

Season 2 Trailer

WeAreSTS

Well, the wait is over. The time has come. Season 2 of WeAreSTS is on its way. This season we’ll feature some cracking projects from STS students. And we’ll have conversations with all sorts of folks here in the department. I’m gonna sneak in a few bonuses too, just to add that tiny bit of sparkle. WeAreSTS is your window into science and technology studies. You know that science and technology don’t live inside isolated bubbles. You know they’re shaped by all sorts of forces and constraints. STS explores that interplay between science and context. For some, it’s money and...

#30 Don’t Look Up! How Hollywood Imports Science Policy into Films | WeAreSTS

WeAreSTS

Hollywood chooses to portray experts in particular – sometimes peculiar – ways. Those choices have profound impacts on how audiences think about subjects as diverse as dinosaurs, robots, and climate catastrophes. But do those portrayals also change the way we think about the experts themselves and the process of expertise? Does Hollywood play some kind of under-the-table role in teaching us which experts to trust? That’s the theme for today’s podcast. Today, we listen in on a conversation between three experts here in STS who study science policy making as a process. They talk about a...

#29 Can Comedy Help Us Tackle Conversations About Climate Change? | WeAreSTS

WeAreSTS

Ever heard of climate change comedy? Here’s the idea. The climate crisis dominates our news. But more and more, messages about action are ignored. Fatalism is growing. People seem frozen with the scale of the problem. It’s clear we need new ways to tackle these tough conversations. In this episode, STS’s very own Grace Tyrrell explores the growing niche of climate change comedy. With her guest Dr Matt Winning, an environmental researcher and comedian, Grace shows us how climate change comedy works and she explores the question of how these two ideas can fit together. Grace is finishing...

#28 Promising Potential for Generative AI at University: Is it a Personal Tutor for Every Pocket | WeAreSTS

WeAreSTS

Mandy dives optimistically into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on education as we know it. Think ChatGPT and all those related tools called generative AI. Along the way, we touch on some fundamental and relevant concepts from science and technology studies - including the Turing Test and technological determinism - that can help us gain a more nuanced understanding of emerging technology and big tech. With insights from UCL experts and others in Silicon Valley, we explore the incredible potential of AI to enhance university education, plus we dip into some of the...

WeAreSTS

The assignments students do in STS modules today are nothing like what they used to be. These days, they build portfolios with all sorts of things: short writing, long writing, posters, blogs, in-class presentations. Add to these, projects like podcasts, film clips, campaign strategies, briefing papers, debates, and full-on project proposals. Research of different kinds. They all require hard work, creativity, and rising to the challenge. We diversify our curriculum because we know the future holds work as varied as we do ourselves each day. We want our students skilled up, practiced, and...

#26 Women in History of Science Through 53 Original Sources | WeAreSTS

WeAreSTS

Women in the History of Science brings together primary sources that highlight women’s involvement in scientific knowledge production around the world. Drawing on texts, images and objects, each primary source is accompanied by an explanatory text, questions to prompt discussion, and a bibliography to aid further research. Arranged by time period, covering 1200 BCE to the twenty-first century, and across 12 inclusive and far-reaching themes, this book is an invaluable companion to students and lecturers alike in exploring women’s history in the fields of science, technology, mathematics,...

#25 Are We Over-Hyping Mindfulness for University Students? | WeAreSTS

WeAreSTS

Chances are you’ve had something to do with “mindfulness” recently. Maybe you’ve been sent to “mindfulness” training. Or, perhaps you’ve been listening to a mindfulness podcast. Or, perhaps you’re using a “mindfulness” app, such as HeadSpace. In this episode, Franziska Link investigates the growing use of mindfulness therapies at universities, such as UCL, in their provision for student support and welfare. What good are they? What do they involve? What are the pros – and the cons – of this approach. Franziska interviews four people with quite different relationships to...

More Episodes

As someone who prides herself on being interested in women’s health and progress related to it, Sofia Sancho still had no idea what “menstrual leave” was when it suddenly was all over the news earlier this spring.

Menstruation is a regular physiological phenomenon, happening to the vast majority of people with uteruses. Many people manage their periods just fine, but for some they can be extremely debilitating. For them, being able to take some extra days off work every month to manage symptoms can be a big relief. However, the policies have received a lot of critique. They can be difficult for companies to adopt in a viable way, and researchers worry that the sociocultural norms and stigmas that exist surrounding menstruation will lead to the policies doing more harm than good.

In the episode, Sofia invites you to join her on a deep dive into the world of menstrual health policies, as she explores the debate surrounding them. Why are they important? Why are they so controversial and debated? And how is any of this related to STS?

Sofia dearly thanks her guests Ms Lorren Rea and Dr Shema Tariq for helping her on this quest.

This episode is created as part of the STSNewsRoom 2022.

Want to learn more?

Literature cited in the episode:

https://profjoecain.net/14-period-policies-exploring-the-debate-on-menstrual-leave-wearests/

Featuring

Reporter and original research

Sofia Sancho

Interviewees

Ms Lorren Rea

Head of Employment Policy at UCL

Dr Shema Tariq

Clinical Research Fellow/ Honorary Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV

Host

Professor Joe Cain
Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology

https://ucl.ac.uk/sts/cain

Music credits

Intro and Exit music

“Rollin At 5,” by Kevin MacLeod

https://filmmusic.io/song/5000-rollin-at-5

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Music within the episode

“Cool Jazzy Brass & Vibraphone” by M33 Project

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/m33-project/single/cool-jazzy-bass-vibraphone/

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Podcast information

WeAreSTS is a production of the Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) at University College London (UCL). To find out more, or to leave feedback about the show:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/podcast

This site also includes information for how STS students and staff can get involved with our programme.

Editing and post-production by Professor Joe Cain, unless otherwise noted.

WeAreSTS producer is Professor Joe Cain.

Twitter: @stsucl #WeAreSTS

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