Equal-ish

We're taking a break over the summer and replaying some of your favourite episodes. Today we're revisiting our conversation with podcast friend Alex Trippier where he gave us his honest perspectives about his personal journey from being clueless to enlightened in all things equal-ish and mental load.
Enjoy!

Discovering concepts like mental load, matrescence, and motherhood ideals really can fundamentally reframe your understanding of parenting as a partnership.
In today’s conversation, Rachel, Kate talk to Alex Trippier, host of the Be a Happier Parent podcast about his fatherhood journey, the strain young children put on his relationship, and the turning point—from believing he was an “involved dad” to realising he had completely missed the invisible emotional, cognitive and cultural pressures shaping his wife’s experience. It’s time to redefine fulfillment as a father beyond achievement and into meaningful family connection.
Here are two of the Be a Happier Parent episodes that we referenced in our interview: 
⁠The magic of caregiving with Elissa Straus ⁠
⁠What do dads do? With Steve Biddulph⁠
These are the books Alex referenced:
The Motherhood Complex by Melissa Hogenboom

Matrescence by Lucy Jones

Fair Play by Eve Rodsky

Beyond Baby Talk by Rachel Childs

Subscribe to Equal-ish on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to be the first to hear the coaching edit from our interview. 
Find out more about your hosts ⁠Kate Mangino⁠ and ⁠Rachel Childs⁠ or get in touch at equalishpod@gmail.com

We're taking a break for the summer and replaying some of ours, and your favourite episodes. This week we're revisiting our conversation with Dr Anna Machin. This really was one of our all time favourite conversations. Anna has so much to share about the evolution of fatherhood and dispelling myths about our modern definition of the breadwinner role.
Enjoy!

In this episode, evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin challenges everything you thought you knew about fatherhood. From hormone shifts and brain changes to the unique ways dads build attachment, Anna unpacks why fathers are wired to be caretakers, not just breadwinners, and how their involvement shapes resilience, social skills, and mental health in children.
Kate and Rachel dive into:
The evolutionary roots of fatherhood and why caregiving, not earning, is innate.

How dads uniquely “scaffold” children’s growth and prepare them for the world.

The importance of secure attachment, sensitive parenting, and playful involvement.

Why societal norms and workplace cultures, not biology, often prevent dads from fully engaging.

How couples can use pregnancy to prepare for parenthood, maintain relationship strength, and navigate the early years together.

This episode is essential listening for any parent, partner, or parent-to-be who wants to understand the science behind equal parenting, and how to put it into practice in today’s world.
Meet Anna and explore her books: https://annamachin.com/
Subscribe to Equal-ish on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to be the first to hear the coaching edit from our interview. 
Find out more about your hosts Kate Mangino and Rachel Childs or email us at equalishpod@gmail.com.

We're taking a break for the summer and replaying our most listened to episodes. This interview with Corinne was one of ours (and your) favourites it the way Corinne uses her behavioural economics lens to how we think about our time, utility and finances as parents.
Enjoy!!
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 burnout aren’t personal failures but predictable outcomes of a broken system. Drawing on time-use data, labour market research and behavioural economics, she unpacks the myths we still cling to: from romanticising the 1950s household to assuming equality will “sort itself out.”
Together, we explore invisible labour, status quo bias, reproductive capital, and the parenting “arms race” that’s making family life feel impossible — especially for working mothers. Most importantly, Corinne offers a practical, empowering reframe: how women can stop trying to “lean in” to a broken system and instead renegotiate work, partnership and parenting on more sustainable terms.
If you find yourself asking: Why does this still feel so hard, and what can we actually do about it? This conversation is for you.
Find out more about Corinne’s work here: www.corinnelow.com 
Subscribe to Equal-ish on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to be the first to hear the coaching edit from our interview. 
Find out more about your hosts Kate Mangino and Rachel Childs or get in touch with us at equalishpod@gmail.com.

We're taking a break for the summer and replaying a few of your favourite episodes. This week, we're sharing one of the very first conversations we had, with Zach Watson, the reformed 'man-child'.
Enjoy!
Are men choosing to ignore the mental load because they subconsciously still believe it is women’s work? Rachel and Kate try to answer that question with this week’s guest, Zach Watson. 
Zach is a former middle school math teacher turned viral content creator and invisible labor coach for modern dads. Zach’s marriage nearly ended in 2018 because he was in default mode and letting his wife do it all. Now he talks very openly about how that happened, what he is doing to make changes, and why other men might be motivated to take household equality seriously. 
Known for his honest, often hilarious take on the mental load in parenting, Zach speaks from real experience. And as a result now has over 120 million views and a growing community of ‘recovering man-children,’ through sharing his practical tools and relatable stories.
⁠⁠Zach Watson Instagram⁠⁠
⁠⁠Zach Watson YouTube Channel ⁠⁠
⁠⁠Zach Watson Facebook⁠⁠
Subscribe to Equal-ish on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to be the first to hear the coaching edit from our interview. Find out more about your hosts ⁠⁠Kate Mangino⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Rachel Childs⁠⁠ or email us equalishpod@gmail.com.

We're taking a break for the summer and replaying our most listened to episodes. Molly was our very first guest on Equal-ish. Whether you've listened to her before, or joined the pod later, this conversation is not to be missed. Molly's insights into relationships through parenthood really are the foundations for everything we talk to. Enjoy!
In this conversation with psychologist and author of To Have and To Hold, Molly Millwood, Kate and Rachel explore how reciprocity in relationships can feel so hard to achieve. We unpack with Molly the subtle ways women are socialized to give away power, why women’s “free time” so often includes caregiving, and how unequal dynamics impact both mothers and fathers. Together we reflect the hidden costs for men who disconnect from early fatherhood, and the damage relationships can suffer if these imbalances go unaddressed.  
Meet Kate & Rachel here: ⁠https://linktr.ee/equalish⁠ and get in touch with us at: equalishpod@gmail.com
Buy Molly’s book, To Have and To Hold: ⁠https://www.mollymillwood.com/book⁠ 
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