Joining me on The Mummafesto this week is the author and researcher Alex Bollen. Formerly a research director at Ipsos MORI, Alex has recently published her first

book, 'Motherhood: Breaking free from bad science and good mother

myths' - exploring how motherhood has been weaponised by science and

the state and the inherently political nature of motherhood. Alex,

welcome to The Mummafesto.

You can find out more about Alex's work and book here.

Joining me this week on The Mummafesto is Georgie Harris and Bex Taylor, founders of Mums Who Build. Mums Who Build is a space for women navigating motherhood, business and career growth, focusing on financial security and tackling the motherhood penalty. It was born out of their own experience of managing careers and parenting. MOB, welcome to The Mummafesto.

Joining me on The Mummafesto this week is Arooj Shah. Arooj is a Labour politician and has been the leader of Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council in Great Manchester since May 2023. Arooj has had a a long and varied career in local Government and was the first Muslim woman to charge of a council in the north of England. Arooj, welcome to The Mummafesto.

Joining me on The Mummafesto this week is Guardian columnist and

political correspondent, Gaby Hinsliff. Gaby is the former editor of

The Observer and editor at large of Grazia magazine. In 2012 Gaby

published 'Half a Wife:The Working Family's Guide to Getting a Life

Back'. Half a Wife is based on Gaby's own experience of trying to

balance a family life with a rewarding career. Gaby, welcome to The

Mummafesto.

Joining me on The Mummafesto this week is Bev Craig. Bev is a Labour politician, serving as the leader of Manchester City Council. Bev is the city council’s first female and LGBT leader and during her time as leader has made significant strides in provision for children and young people in Manchester. Bev is also a founder and co-chair of Open Labour.

Joining me for The Mummafesto Mother's Day special, and the one year anniversary of the podcast, is author and campaigner Laura Bates. Laura is the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, an ever-increasing collection of over 200,000 testimonies of global gender inequality and author of several books on misogyny and sexism. Her most recent book, Fix the System, Not the Women was named one of Waterstones' best books of 2022. In May, Laura will publish her latest book 'The New Age of Sexism - How the AI revolution is reinventing misogyny'. Laura, welcome to The Mummafesto.

My guest this week is Beverley Pannell. Beverley is the founder of Motherhood Uncensored and mum to a toddler. After facing fertility issues, baby loss and a traumatic birth Beverley felt there was so much missing from our conversations around motherhood. Motherhood Uncensored began as a platform to share stories and collectively work through the misogyny that surrounds modern motherhood but has grown into much more. This week Beverley has published her first book, ‘Motherhood Uncensored’, a collection of 35 stories and essays from mothers sharing their experience. Beverley welcome to The Mummafesto.

My guest this week is Marvyn Harrison. Marvyn is the father of two small children and the founder of Dope Black Dads. Beginning as a solidarity whatsapp chat with fellow fathers, Dope Black Dads has now grown into a global community with over 250,000 members in the UK, US and South Africa, helping dads with everything from new fatherhood to finances to problems your child may face at school. Marvyn, welcome to the Mummafesto