When I launched this Substack at the beginning of last year, the main aim was to promote my Careful Thinking podcast, in which I explore ideas about care in conversation with writers, researchers and practitioners at the cutting edge of current thinking about care, and which recently celebrated its twentieth episode. And my principal motivation when I started the podcast, in November 2023, was to provide an online space for critical conversations about care, and a vehicle for bringing some of the exciting work being done in care theory to a wider audience.
However, as they say on the BBC, other care podcasts are available [1], and in this post I want to draw attention to some of the other podcast series which explore the important issues currently affecting carers, care providers and receivers of care. In doing so, I should begin by entering a number of caveats. Firstly, what follows is a small selection of the rapidly growing number of care-related podcasts available, and a more extensive internet search would probably uncover many others. Secondly, I focus here on podcasts in English, though I’m sure there are many excellent care-related podcasts in other languages. And thirdly, and inevitably, given my location, I’ve tended to concentrate mainly on the UK.
Having said all of that, it’s exciting to see so many online conversations about care happening in so many different contexts, bringing contemporary care-related information, debates and resources to a wider audience. A good deal of caregiving, and indeed a fair amount of the debate and discussion about care, happens behind closed doors, and the wonderful thing about podcasts is that they can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world, and usually for free, thus raising awareness of key issues, and (one hopes) contributing to improving the practice and experience of care, and effecting change in policy.
When I was casting around for a suitable name for my podcast, I played with various snappy and punning phrases that included the word ‘care’, before settling on Careful Thinking (I should say that the name ‘Care Pod’, which I’ve used as the heading for this post, didn’t occur to me at the time. [2]) A number of other podcasts also play on well-known care-related phrases, one example being ‘For All I Care’, a podcast series from the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (with whom I’ve collaborated in the past) and the Wellcome Foundation. It’s a five-part series that ran in 2020 and 2021, but is still available online. Presented by multidisciplinary artist Nwando Ebizie, the series sets out to ‘reimagine care and healing through the lens of art, health and science.’ According to the podcast website, ‘each 45-minute episode includes conversations, artists’ works and healing experiences’ and the series ‘explores what care means for our bodies, our families, our communities, the planet and our futures.’
The relationship between care and creativity is also the focus of the most recent episode of another podcast which neatly uses a common phrase about care in its title. Care Fully Considered launched last year and is unusual in being both by and for unpaid carers, though it also brings in expert voices as guests. As the blurb for the podcast says: ‘There are only three types of people in the UK: unpaid carers, soon-to-unpaid carers, and the people requiring the care.’ The hosts, Katy Styles and Laura Barnes, are themselves unpaid carers and are involved in the We Care Campaign, which aims to achieve better recognition and appreciation for carers in the UK, and there’s a definite emphasis in the podcast on influencing and effecting change.
Another podcast with a focus on changing policy and attitudes around care is Care Matters, which addresses critical current issues in the organisation of social care, and is hosted by the UK Economic and Social Research Council Centre for Care, and CIRCLE, the Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities, based at Sheffield University. According to the podcast website, ‘in this series, our researchers welcome experts in the field and those giving or receiving care to discuss crucial issues in social care, as we collectively attempt to make a positive difference to how care is experienced and provided.’ The focus is principally on the organisation and economics of care in the UK, with occasional episodes examining policy and provision elsewhere in Europe.
A mission to improve the provision of care is also at the heart of the Point of Care Foundation, which grew out of the Point of Care programme at The King’s Fund. In their Humanising Health & Care podcast, launched in 2021, they ‘explore what humanising health and care means with a range of guests who share their perspectives on giving and receiving care.’ There’s a strong emphasis in the podcast on the voices of healthcare practitioners, and there are occasional overlaps with topics we’ve covered on Careful Thinking: for example, Episode 17 explores the importance of building relationships in health and care settings, echoing the focus on relational care in Episodes 1 and 20 of Careful Thinking. The most recent episode on the podcast website was published in November 2024, so it’s possible that this is another series that has come to an end, while still being available to download.
Governmental and quasi-governmental organisations whose role is to support care provision are increasingly using podcasts as a way of communicating with and developing the skills of care practitioners. An example is the Skills for Care podcast, provided by the organisation of the same name. The podcast, also known as ‘The Care Exchange’, consists of 5 series and is aimed specifically at managers in social care. It invites listeners to ‘hear from other managers in social care and discover a place where managers can listen to other managers and pick up some good ideas to support you in your own role.’
Also for care managers, there’s the ‘Leading Improvement in Health and Care’ podcast, developed by the NHS [National Health Service] Confederation, which explores ‘the learning and experiences of people making changes across systems’. According to the podcast website, ‘each episode aims to spotlight where improvement is working well, as well as the challenges along the way...Whether you've been leading improvement for years, or are curious about its relevance to your role, this podcast is for you. ‘
The ‘Voices of Care’ podcast from Newcross Healthcare offers a broader overview of the social care sector. Hosted by ‘healthcare market expert Suhail Mirza’ it discusses ‘the challenges and opportunities facing health and social care in the UK today’ and ‘welcomes wisdom and insight from leaders in NHS, private healthcare and from across social care.’
The private care sector is represented by the Chasing Care podcast, published by Network Live in Care which ‘provides specialist healthcare and recruitment services placing professional Live in carers to enable clients to be looked after in their own home’. Despite its commercial orientation, the podcast series provides useful information and advice for listeners attempting to find the best quality home-based care for their loved ones.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Irish Sea, Ireland’s National Care Experience Programme has developed ‘Let’s Talk Care Experience’, a podcast that discusses ‘all aspects of people’s experiences using Ireland’s health and social care services.’ In each episode, host Tracy O’ Carroll ‘speaks to inspiring people who help shape health and social care in Ireland, discussing their lived experiences as well as gaining their insights and knowledge into how to drive improvement within services.’
Moving north, ‘Care to chat?’ is a podcast series from the Northern Ireland Social Care Council, presented by broadcaster Dr Wendy Austin, which ‘showcases conversations and interviews with people in the social work and social care community, as well as from across the health and social care system’. The series sets out to ‘discuss things that matter to social workers and social care workers, inform their learning and development, address common questions, and talk about what we can do to best support the safe delivery of quality health and social care in Northern Ireland.’
Crossing the Atlantic, we find a selection of podcasts which foreground the voices of caregivers, but also have an entrepreneurial aspect, as the hosts seek to use their experience as caregivers to help others, as professional coaches and mentors. For example, the ‘Love Your Caregiving Life’ podcast is hosted by Charlotte Bayala, who became a full-time carer when her husband was disagnosed with cancer. She writes: ‘After spending a lot of time stumbling through life as a caregiver, I was able to turn things around and use my training and experience to finally start enjoying my caregiving life...I would like to use what I have learned to make it easier for other caregivers to find their way to loving their lives again.’
Dave Nassanery, who styles himself ‘Caregiver Dave’, also describes himself as a coach who draws on his own experience of caring for his wife. His podcast is described as ‘your guide to avoiding burnout and surviving grief’ and aims to ‘help caregivers to not just survive, but to thrive...I teach caregivers who are taking care of their loved ones (due to an illness or disability) how to take care of themselves first.’ Similarly, Elizabeth Miller, host of the ‘Happy Health Caregiver’ podcast, uses her personal experience of caregiving to help others, describing herself as a ‘Certified Caregiving Consultant’, who aims to ‘share my stories, tips, and speak with others who are current or former family caregivers.’
In this post, I’ve mainly discussed generic podcasts about care that are designed for a broad audience. However, some care podcasts appeal to, or offer the perspective of, specific communities. For example, in the United States, there’s Rabbi Richard Address’ longstanding Jewish Sacred Aging Podcast, one of whose recent guests was the author Elissa Strauss, who has also been a guest on Careful Thinking. Here in the UK, the Jewish Care On Air podcast covers ‘all aspects that are relevant to health and social care and to the community today’ and invites ‘experts in social care to discuss the topics that are important to us on our guest panels.’ The podcast has published monthly episodes since October 2023, but as the last episode appeared in December 2024, this may be another series that has now come to an end, while leaving its episodes still accessible online.
Some podcasts explore particular aspects of care. This is true of a number of research-based podcasts, such as the ‘Sex, Research & Resistance’ podcast hosted by my colleagues from the Open University’s Reproduction, Sexualities & Sexual Health research group, which focuses on reproductive care and ‘creates a space for fellow researchers, practitioners, and activists to connect on key issues and learn from each other’, its aim being ‘to inspire and share learnings among our international, multidisciplinary audiences through an informal conversation about the challenges we face, innovative approaches and strategies for future work.’ Colleagues and former colleagues of mine have also been associated with the Death Studies Podcast which focuses, among other things, on palliative and end-of-life care, and which ‘features emerging as well as established researchers, independent scholars and practitioners sharing their ideas, research and experience.’ Contributors have included my colleague Erica Borgstrom, who was also a guest on an earlier episode of Careful Thinking.
Turning finally to my own recent research interest in men and bereavement care, I’ve been impressed by the Guys and Grief podcast, hosted by two bereaved fathers, which aims to support men who have experienced pregnancy or infancy loss. Like many of my favourite care-related podcasts, this series foregrounds the voices of those on the receiving end of care, and also draws on its hosts’ first-hand experiences as a means of helping others, suggesting ways in which the practice of care might be improved, and caregivers better supported.
From this brief and inevitably partial survey of the care podcast landscape, I’ve concluded that there isn’t currently another podcast series that’s doing exactly what Careful Thinking attempts to do: that is, exploring the latest developments in care theory and research, and communicating those developments to a general audience. However, if we switch the focus from podcasts to online blogs and newsletters – such as this Substack – then, in the interests of full disclosure, I must recommend the excellent Ethics of Care website, hosted by the Dutch Critical Ethics of Care Foundation. The foundation ‘aims at contributing to good, citizenship affirming, professionally sound, caring practices (among which healthcare, welfare and teaching practices), decent and just institutions and a society that cares for those who are vulnerable.’ It does so ‘by developing knowledge on burning issues in society, using a critical, political and empirical interpretation of ethics of care.’ The Ethics of Care website has a number of different strands, including an academic exchange, a reviews section, interviews with leading care ethicists, and pages on specific themes and issues. The site recently published a report on January’s Care Ethics Research Consortium conference in Utrecht, and a review of Andries Baart and Guus Timmerman’s new book on relational caring and presence theory, which I discussed with them in the most recent episode of the Careful Thinking podcast.
Finally, if you come across any interesting care-related podcasts, blogs or newsletters that I’ve missed, and which you think I should have mentioned in this post, please share the links in the comments below.
Notes
[1] For non-UK readers: as a publicly-funded organisation, the BBC is not allowed to advertise products, so any mention of a specific brand tends to be followed by this formula.
[2] As I was writing this post, I noticed that the name ‘Care Pod’ has already been used, not by a podcast but for a number of commercial products. CarePod (TM) is described as ‘the world’s first AI doctor’s office’, the Carepod is apparently ‘the world’s cleanest humidifier, while Cheshire Lodge’s Care Pods are modular apartments that ‘offer housing solutions for medical professionals’, and the name is also being used for ‘modern granny annexes’.
The header image for this post is used under licence from Shutterstock.com
This is a super helpful review. Its nice to know that all these podcasts are out there.