In this episode, we explore the complexities and rewards of conducting participatory creative research with marginalised women. We hear from two distinct research contexts: one working with young mothers in Cape Cost, Ghana, and another engaging with migrant women in London, UK. While these projects differ in format and location, they share fundamental questions about how researchers can remain responsive and receptive to the constant changes that creative participatory work demands. We reflect ...
Dec 18, 2025•25 min•Season 4Ep. 13
In this episode, we explore the complexities and rewards of conducting participatory creative research with marginalised women. We hear from two distinct research contexts: one working with young mothers in Cape Cost, Ghana, and another engaging with migrant women in London, UK. While these projects differ in format and location, they share fundamental questions about how researchers can remain responsive and receptive to the constant changes that creative participatory work demands. We reflect ...
Dec 18, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Reproductive Anxiety: Understanding the experiences of LGBTQ individuals, young people, and those who have faced perinatal loss. Part 2 of 2. This episode delves into the multifaceted issue of reproductive anxiety. We hear from researchers and activists Sam Murphy, Jessi Winters and Mari Greenfield on their work with LGBTQ communities, young people and individuals who have faced perinatal loss. In Part 2 , the guests share their solutions and best practices for research in this space. They discu...
Jul 02, 2025•26 min
Reproductive Anxiety: Understanding the experiences of LGBTQ individuals, young people, and those who have faced perinatal loss. Part 1 of 2. This episode delves into the multifaceted issue of reproductive anxiety. We hear from researchers and activists Sam Murphy, Jessi Winters and Mari Greenfield on their work with LGBTQ communities, young people and individuals who have faced perinatal loss. Part 1 sets the scene for what reproductive anxiety might look like and draws on the challenges people...
Jul 02, 2025•32 min
"Dignity means different things for different people, and it’s difficult to deny the importance of the notion in understandings of human existence. So when we use dignity as a given of a quality to being human, we need to dig into what human means and who grants what a human with rights is.” Lisa Käll. “ Person-centred care is only reserved for some people entering healthcare systems, and not for others. ” Sarah Hamed. The question of human dignity is crucial in the fight for birthing rights for...
Apr 11, 2025•34 min
“Dignity means different things for different people, and it’s difficult to deny the importance of the notion in understandings of human existence. So when we use dignity as a given of a quality to being human, we need to dig into what human means and who grants what a human with rights is.” Lisa Käll. “ Person-centred care is only reserved for some people entering healthcare systems, and not for others. ” Sarah Hamed. The question of human dignity is crucial in the fight for birthing rights for...
Apr 11, 2025•27 min•Ep. 11
In Part 2 of this episode, Open University researcher Elizabeth Ascroft invites guests Ashlee Beatrice-Burnett , Dr Rebecah MacGilleEathain and Isabel Steele to explore youth sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in rural and island communities. This conversation explores the strategies for working in collaboration with communities in for the enhancement of SRHR. Drawing from their own work, the guest speakers discuss taking a whole-school approach to sexuality education, innovative contr...
Mar 08, 2025•35 min
In Part 1 of this episode, Open University researcher Elizabeth Ascroft invites guests Ashlee Beatrice-Burnett , Dr Rebecah MacGilleEathain and Isabel Steele to explore youth sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in rural and island communities. The guests share insights from their work in the Scottish Hebrides and Western Isles, Aruba, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The conversation highlights the unique challenges faced by young people in contexts where “everyone knows everyone”. The...
Mar 08, 2025•27 min
“Intersectionality has been hailed as one of the most transformative theoretical developments in critical legal studies, political theory, feminist and critical race studies and its influence is felt in a range of policy areas: social work and social justice, education, urban studies. Intersectionality emerged out of activist movements and continues to be shaped by activism. So intersectionality as a theory is indivisible from intersectionality as an activist stance and approach to real-world in...
Oct 29, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 9
“Intersectionality has been hailed as one of the most transformative theoretical developments in critical legal studies, political theory, feminist and critical race studies and its influence is felt in a range of policy areas: social work and social justice, education, urban studies. Intersectionality emerged out of activist movements and continues to be shaped by activism. So intersectionality as a theory is indivisible from intersectionality as an activist stance and approach to real-world in...
Oct 29, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 9
This episode is produced in collaboration with the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for Study of Global Development at the Open University. Martha Nicholson (facilitator), Dr Joyce Wamoyi, Dr Kevin Deane, and Professor Peter Keogh discuss research on the social determinants of sexual and reproductive health. Drawing from different disciplines, research contexts and institutions, we explore how sexual and reproductive health is managed and negotiated in the context of structu...
Jul 25, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 8
This episode is produced in collaboration with the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for Study of Global Development at the Open University. Martha Nicholson (facilitator), Dr Joyce Wamoyi, Dr Kevin Deane, and Professor Peter Keogh discuss research on the social determinants of sexual and reproductive health. Drawing from different disciplines, research contexts and institutions, we explore how sexual and reproductive health is managed and negotiated in the context of structura...
Jul 25, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 8
This episode is a collaboration between the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for the Global Study of Development at the Open University. In this two-part episode, hosted by Elizabeth Ascroft (co-founder of the podcast), we discuss girlhood in the context of international development. We are joined by Dr Jane Doka and Dr Alison Buckler , both experienced researchers in the field of education, inclusion, and youth transitions. In Part 2, we talk about working with girls to...
Jul 10, 2024•35 min
This episode is a collaboration between the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for the Global Study of Development at the Open University. In this episode, hosted by Elizabeth Ascroft (co-founder of the podcast), we discuss girlhood in the context of international development. We are joined by Dr Jane Doka and Dr Alison Buckler , both experienced researchers in the field of education, inclusion, and youth transitions. In Part 1, we focus on the idea of girlhood and identify some...
Jul 10, 2024•29 min
This episode is a collaboration between the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for the Global Study of Development at the Open University. In this episode hosted by Dr Ayomide Oluseye (Member of the OU research group on Reproduction, Sexuality and Sexual Health), we explore the intersections and societal impact of shame and stigma in the diverse contexts of abortion, poverty and foster-care. We explore how societal judgment surrounding these topics creates a web of challenges fo...
Jul 03, 2024•31 min•Season 2Ep. 6
This episode is a collaboration between the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for the Global Study of Development at the Open University. In this episode hosted by Dr Ayomide Oluseye (Member of the OU research group on Reproduction, Sexuality and Sexual Health), we explore the intersections and societal impact of shame and stigma in the diverse contexts of abortion, poverty and foster-care. We explore how societal judgment surrounding these topics creates a web of challenges fo...
Jul 03, 2024•32 min•Season 2Ep. 6
In this episode, Elise Denis-Ramirez is in conversation with Palestinian activist Ammal Awadallah and Sudanese activist Wafa Adam to learn more about the feminist sexual and reproductive rights resistance in Palestine and Sudan. We are hearing from two humanitarian contexts substantially influenced by war, displacement, and unprecedented unmet sexual and reproductive health needs. Recognising that both countries face a myriad of urgent humanitarian needs, we focus this conversation on sexual and...
Jun 21, 2024•28 min•Season 2Ep. 5
In this episode, Elise Denis-Ramirez is in conversation with Palestinian activist Ammal Awadallah and Sudanese activist Wafa Adam to learn more about the feminist sexual and reproductive rights resistance in Palestine and Sudan. We are hearing from two humanitarian contexts substantially influenced by war, displacement, and unprecedented unmet sexual and reproductive health needs. Recognising that both countries face a myriad of urgent humanitarian needs, we focus this conversation on sexual and...
Jun 21, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 5
In this ThinkBites episode, three researchers Erica Millar, Camille Maes and Martha Nicholson share experiences of conducting research with abortion providers in three health care systems – Australia, Italy, and Northern Ireland. In part one, they share what motivated them to start working in abortion research, the contexts that they work in, and the contested identities of health professionals who provide abortion care in each setting, in particular midwives. Their discussion frames abortion as...
May 29, 2024•30 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In this ThinkBites episode, three researchers Erica Millar, Camille Maes and Martha Nicholson share experiences of conducting research with abortion providers in three health care systems – Australia, Italy, and Northern Ireland. In part one, they share what motivated them to start working in abortion research, the contexts that they work in, and the contested identities of health professionals who provide abortion care in each setting, in particular midwives. Their discussion frames abortion as...
May 29, 2024•36 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In this ThinkBites episode, Dr Rebecca Jones is in conversation with Dr Helen Bowes-Catton and Dr Sarah Jen about researching bisexuality and queerness across generations. In part 1, Rebecca, Helen, and Sarah explore how meaning around identities, behaviours and attractions are made among bisexual and queer communities. Reflecting on the liminalities of age, they bring our attention to the richness of bisexual and queer identities and foreground the need to reflect this in our research. In part ...
Jan 16, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In this ThinkBites episode, Dr Rebecca Jones is in conversation with Dr Helen Bowes-Catton and Dr Sarah Jen about researching bisexuality and queerness across generations. In part 1, Rebecca, Helen, and Sarah explore how meaning around identities, behaviours and attractions are made among bisexual and queer communities. Reflecting on the liminalities of age, they bring our attention to the richness of bisexual and queer identities and foreground the need to reflect this in our research. In part ...
Jan 16, 2024•29 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In this second ThinkBites episode, Dr. Aaron Mvula and Dr. Ayomide Oluseye are in conversation with (host) Elise Denis-Ramirez about their PhD research on early parenthood in Nigeria and Zambia. Aaron and Ayomide both used creative methods to explore early parenthood. This episode is an honest reflection about the inspiration, joy, and the difficult decisions they had to make along their creative PhD research journey. In Part 1, Aaron and Ayomide reflect on how questioning gender norms and moral...
Nov 07, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In this second ThinkBites episode, Dr. Aaron Mvula and Dr. Ayomide Oluseye are in conversation with (host) Elise Denis-Ramirez about their PhD research on early parenthood in Nigeria and Zambia. Aaron and Ayomide both used creative methods to explore early parenthood. This episode is an honest reflection about the inspiration, joy, and the difficult decisions they had to make along their creative PhD research journey. In Part 1, Aaron and Ayomide reflect on how questioning gender norms and moral...
Nov 07, 2023•37 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In this two-part ThinkBites episode, Elizabeth Ascroft and Elise Denis-Ramirez reflect on their PhD research working with young people in the field of sexual reproductive health and rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. This episode captures their ongoing conversations around curating and facilitating spaces for creative, participatory, and action-based research. In part 1 , they ask each other questions about making connections with participants, how it felt the morning of their first work...
Aug 29, 2023•29 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In this two-part ThinkBites episode, Elizabeth Ascroft and Elise Denis-Ramirez reflect on their PhD research working with young people in the field of sexual reproductive health and rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. This episode captures their ongoing conversations around curating and facilitating spaces for creative, participatory, and action-based research. In part 1 , they ask each other questions about making connections with participants, how it felt the morning of their first work...
Aug 29, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 1
We are launching our new series ThinkBites!
Aug 29, 2023•57 sec
In this episode, speakers Edem Ntumy (Reproductive Justice Initiative), Professor Emeritus Patricia Maguire (Feminist Trailblazers & Good Troublemakers Podcast), Dr Camilla Fitzsimons (Maynooth University) and host Elise Denis-Ramirez (Open University) meet to discuss reproductive justice in the context of participation and feminist knowledge creation. Listen in on a thought-provoking intergenerational podcast about autonomy, reproductive resistance, and the importance of centring community ...
Jul 18, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 6
In this episode, speakers Laura Ramos Tomás (TabuTabu), Anne Philpott (The Pleasure Project), Justin Hancock (Bish Training) and host Elizabeth Ascroft (Open University) discuss sexuality education beyond the confines of the classroom. Tune in to hear about sex ed as a continuous learning experience of bodies, relationships, identities and pleasure from youth and into our adult life. Our panelists draw from their experience working across cultures and contexts and share insight into their creati...
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In this episode, speakers Rachel Grocott, Dr Mandi Tembo, Dr Camilla Mørk Røstvik and host Dr Victoria Newton discuss pathways to end period poverty to ensure that everyone who menstruates experiences affordable, dignified and stigma-free periods. The panel explore what period poverty is and how it affects people around the world, how periods are represented in popular media and what communities can do to overcome stigma and shame. The episode ends with a call to action; what can academics, camp...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 4
