Equal-ish

Meet Kate Mangino @kate_mangino and Rachel Childs @parents_that_work. Everyone says they want more equal partnerships. So why do so many couples still end up falling into traditional roles? In this thought-provoking conversation, organisational psychologist and behaviour change expert and author of How We Learn, Nick Shackleton-Jones explores the invisible forces that shape how we work and lead. F...

When Paige Connell became a mum, she didn't expect her marriage to change overnight. She'd been with her husband for 16 years. They had an equitable relationship. They supported each other's careers. Yet within a few years (accelerated by COVID, foster care, adoption, four young children and a complete lack of childcare support) she found herself overwhelmed, burnt out and quietly wond...

We often talk about the mental load, emotional labour, and the systems that keep families stuck in unequal patterns. But what happens after awareness? In this Equal-ish Edit, Kate and Rachel reflect on their recent conversations with Laura Danger (Ep 41), Steve Cardwell (Ep 42) and Natalie Costa (Ep 43), exploring the gap between knowing and doing. Why do couples who value equality still end up in...

What if the most important parenting skill isn't discipline, communication, or even patience, but emotional fitness? In this episode, Kate and Rachel sit down with parenting coach and emotional fitness expert Natalie Costa to explore how our relationship with emotions shapes everything from our parenting to our partnerships. Natalie explains why so many adults struggle to navigate difficult em...

For today's fathers, the expectations have changed. Men are no longer expected to simply provide financially. They are expected to be present, emotionally engaged, active parents while still succeeding at work and somehow finding time for themselves too. But what happens when all of those demands collide? In this thought-provoking conversation, Rachel and Kate sit down with Deliberate Dad foun...

We are all familiar with the jokes. The exhausted mum carrying everything. The lovable but clueless dad. The wife who nags. The husband who "helps." But what if the jokes aren't harmless? This week Rachel and Kate are joined by Laura Danger, author of No More Mediocre , to explore the hidden relationship dynamics that have been normalised for generations. Laura shares how a flood of...

In this Equal-ish Edit, Rachel Childs and Kate Mangino reflect on the last three powerful conversations with: Professor Leah Ruppanner (ep 36 & 37) on redefining the mental load, Dr. Taveeshi Gupta (ep 38) on the global state of fatherhood, and Danny Mercer (ep 39) on life as an at-home dad. Together, they unpack one huge question: if men increasingly say they want to care more, why are so man...

Danny Mercer has spent 16 years as the primary caregiver for his four children, and what started as a practical family decision became a complete redefinition of identity, fatherhood, care and partnership. In this deeply honest conversation, Danny shares what it means to be the default parent as a father: the exhaustion, the invisible labour, the mental load, the resentment, the joy, and the relen...

What if the biggest lie we’ve been told about caregiving is that people don’t want to do it? In this powerful conversation, Rachel Childs and Kate Mangino sit down with Dr. Taveeshi Gupta, Senior Director of Research, Evaluation, and Learning from Equimundo to unpack the newly released State of the World’s Fathers 2026 report (a landmark global study spanning 16 countries and 8,000 parents). The f...

Last week, we redefined the mental load. This week, Rachel Childs and Kate Mangino ask the harder question: What do you actually do about it? In Part 2 of our conversation with Professor Leah Ruppanner, we move from awareness to action. Because once you realise you’re not just carrying one mental load (but eight) it can feel even heavier. So how do you: stop feeling responsible for everything? cha...

This week, Rachel Childs and Kate Mangino sit down with Professor Leah Ruppanner to unpack one of the most misunderstood (and underestimated) forces shaping modern relationships: the mental load. Leah is Professor of Sociology at the University of Melbourne and Founder of LightenLab . She is the author of Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More and Motherlands: How States Push Moth...

What if the way you’ve been measuring yourself as a parent is the very thing making it harder? In this raw and reflective “After the Interview” episode, Rachel Childs and Kate Mangino unpack the uncomfortable truths from their conversation with parenting expert Anita Cleare, and what it actually means to live those insights in real life. Because it’s one thing to say “focus on the relationship, no...

What if the biggest mistake we’re making as parents is thinking it’s our job to shape our children? This week, Rachel Childs and Kate Mangino sit down with parenting expert Anita Cleare to challenge everything we think we know about “good parenting.” From the myth of perfect outcomes to the reality of relationship-building, Anita reframes parenting as something far less controllable and far more h...

We talk a lot about parental leave. But what happens after dads go back to work? In this After the Interview, Kate Mangino and Rachel Childs unpack the uncomfortable reality behind our conversation with Ian Dinwiddy and why support for fathers is still falling through the cracks. Ian is Coach, Mentor and the founder of Inspiring Dads, helping businesses who put supporting new dads at the heart of...

We’re told fatherhood is changing. That dads today want to be more present, more involved, more equal. But what if most men never actually get the chance? In this episode, Rachel Childs and Kate Mangino sit down with return-to-work expert Ian Dinwiddy to unpack the reality behind modern fatherhood. It’s far more complex than policy headlines suggest. Ian is Coach, Mentor and the founder of Inspiri...

After our conversation with Melissa Hogenboom, we couldn’t stop thinking about one thing: Power. Not the obvious kind, but the invisible, everyday power shaping how couples live, decide, and relate to each other. In this after-the-interview episode of Equal-ish, Kate and Rachel explore   Why the person doing the most at home can feel the least powerful How stress, silence, and resentment are linke...

This week Kate Mangino and Rachel Childs speak with science journalist and author Melissa Hogenboom about the hidden power dynamics shaping modern relationships. We often think of power as something that exists in politics or the workplace, but what if it’s quietly influencing the way we make everyday decisions at home? Drawing on research from neuroscience, psychology and sociology, Melissa expla...

What if the path to a more equal home life didn’t require a huge conversation… but just one small experiment? In this After the Interview episode of Equal-ish, Kate and Rachel reflect on their conversation with Hayley Swenson from New America and put some of the Better Life Lab behavioural experiments to the test in their own families. The idea behind the experiments is simple: instead of trying t...

What if the reason equality at home feels impossible isn’t a lack of commitment but a lack of time? This week, Kate and Rachel sit down with Haley Swenson, gender researcher and deputy director at New America, to explore the work behind the Better Life Lab Experiments (BLLX) — an initiative focused on practical, evidence-informed ways to rebalance household labor. Hayley shares how BLLX emerged fr...

What becomes visible about a relationship when the romance is removed? In this new After the Interview episode, Kate and Rachel reflect on their powerful conversation with mediator and parent coordinator Traci Cherrier. We unpack the realities of co-parenting after separation and why the same lessons apply to couples who are still together. The statistics are sobering: 39% of separated parents say...

What does “equal-ish” look like when you’re no longer a couple? This was a question Kate and Rachel have been pondering for a while.  In this powerful conversation, mediator and parent coordinator Traci Cherrier joins Rachel and Kate to unpack the emotional and practical realities of co-parenting after separation. From navigating the grief cycle to shifting from intimate communication to business-...

In this After the Interview episode, Rachel Childs and Kate Mangino unpack the conversations they couldn’t stop thinking about after speaking with behavioural economist Dr Corinne Low. Corinne Low, PhD is an associate professor of business economics and public policy at the Wharton School, and the author of Having It All (Femononics in the UK). We reflect on what it really means to bring “ruthless...

In this episode of Equal-ish , Kate Mangino and Rachel Childs are joined by economist and author Dr. Corinne Low , whose book Having It All blends rigorous data with deeply human stories about work, love and parenthood. Corinne takes us inside the economics of the modern household — explaining why gender equality at home has stalled, why parenting time has exploded, and why women’s stress and burn...

In this first After the Interview episode of Equal-ish, Kate and Rachel reflect on their conversation with Brian Page, founder of Modern Husbands, and explore the tensions that lingered once the microphones were off. We explore what happens when couples are encouraged to “support the career that earns more”, and why that logic might reinforce traditional roles rather than disrupting them. In this...

Achieving balance in both parenting and finances can feel overwhelming for couples. In this episode of Equal-ish, hosts Rachel Childs and Kate Mangino delve into the importance of teamwork in financial management with Brian Page, founder of Modern Husbands. Join us as we explore how childhood experiences shape our money habits, how gender norms around money, care, and breadwinning quietly shape ou...