Community Engagement, Development and Research

In today's episode Guilaine reflects on her experience of community engagement, development and research, building on a post she wrote about this topic on Race Reflections. She particularly considers her earliest experiences in terms of her engagement with race, mental health, race inequality and racial trauma comparing them to a conversation she had with an early career community worker at a conference last year.Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine reflects on what she calls White Women Gaze. This is a topic she has thought about before in her work on Race Reflections and in her book White Minds. She was inspired to speak on this by watching a tictok video of an African woman talking about cross-cultural friendships and relationships between Black and White women. She discusses the video in question, and then shares some of her own experiences of these dynamics from within her working life. She thinks about how these dynamics play out in the workplace, concluding that racialised violence is also gendered and gendered violence also racialised.The TicTok video: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNR9QrQA4/White Minds: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/white-mindsRace Reflections -White womanhood, intersectional violence and racialised boundaries: https://racereflections.co.uk/white-womahood-intersectional-violence-and-racialised-boundaries/The White Female Gaze: A Formulation: https://racereflections.co.uk/the-white-female-gaze-a-formulation/Previous episodes - The Invisible Gaze of White Women: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/episodes/9739129-the-invisible-gaze-of-white-womenToxic White Feminity: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1623760/episodes/8807980-toxic-white-femininitySubscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine responds to a question about her updated biography, specifically her interest in fashion, beauty and aesthetics  and how that informs or relates her academic and clinical work. She goes over the personal history of her passion for fashion, considers the relation between Black Feminist thinking and joy, the erotic, desire, self authorship and survival, thinks about how when you look at injustice, atrocity and suffering it is an act of resistance to also focus on pleasure, beauty and life, and she finishes by considering how her interest in fashion challenges normative bias, racialised expectations and so it becomes an act of rebellion.Guilaine’s updated biography: https://racereflections.co.uk/about-the-author/Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Simone reflects on the “brand driven culture war” supposedly ignited by Sydney Sweeney’s racist advertising campaign with American Eagle. They also look at the flip-flopping on Cracker Barrel’s choice of logo. They consider how when a companies commitment to diversity is shallow it is very easily dismantled, especially when aided by the media and the American President.Articles referred to:American Eagle doubles down on controversial ad campaign: https://www.axios.com/2025/08/07/american-eagle-sydney-sweeney-backlashCracker Barrel reverses course and will scrap new logo after intense backlash: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/26/cracker-barrel-logo-apologySubscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine reflects on the first 100 episodes(!) of Race Reflections AT WORK. She talks about what she’s learned from the process, considers some areas to develop, and picks out her top three episodes using the criteria of which episodes resonated with her the most.The episodes Guilaine picks out:Episode 61:  Reflections on a trip to the Congo: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/episodes/14947769Episode 2: Location of Disturbance and Scapegoating: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/episodes/8127268 Episode 23: Thinking critically about feelings: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/episodes/10099716This is a good opportunity for us to say thank you to all who have listened to the podcast. From the statistics we see through our podcasting platform we know that we’ve had over 160K downloads since we launched with people listening from all over the world. Do please continue to let people know about the show and to let us know if there are things we could do to improve what we are doing (and also what you have enjoyed or valued about what we do.)Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine reflects on the last year, both for Race Reflections as an institution and for herself personally, and thinks forward towards the year to come.Wishing you a Happy New Year from all at Race Reflections!Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine talks about Race Reflection’s Large Group on Whiteness At Work that starts in February. She reflects on the groups aim to help understand the impact of Whiteness, race discrimination and race inequality on wellbeing, mental health, team dynamics and institutional functioning. Starting by considering how Whiteness functions and impacts the workplace, grounding the theory with some examples, and then discussing why she created the Large Group On Whiteness At Work, what the course entails and how you can apply to join.Large Group On Whiteness At Work: https://racereflections.co.uk/whiteness-at-work-large-group/Large Group On Whiteness: https://racereflections.co.uk/events/111495/NOTE: Due to the seasonal holidays January’s two podcast episodes are coming out on different days to usual, but by February we will return to our usual pattern of the first and third Monday’s of every month.Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

It’s nearly the end of 2025 so with Christmas and New Years Eve coming up soon what better moment than to think about things that glitter, and what goes in to making them? In today's episode Simone does a deep-dive into Taylor Swift’s engagement ring and it’s connection to mining and colonialism. Although it’s not really about the ring but about what it and “American royalty” represent within white supremacy during these times of genocide(s). They consider some of the workers involved in the creation of this ring and the histories and contexts that formed this August 2025 media moment. Articles referred to:The diamond for Taylor Swift's ring may be from India, claims Instagram user! : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/fashion/luxury/cover-story/the-diamond-for-taylor-swifts-ring-may-be-from-india-claims-instagram-user/articleshow/123541549.cmsBlood Diamonds: The Kimberley Process and Their History: https://ourosjewels.co.uk/blogs/education/blood-diamonds-kimberley-processSubscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine responds to an email sent to her about the differential treatment of people of colour in the workplace, and why Black people are treated more harshly. This question was a response to a thread she made about the idealisation of Black people, and so this episode is also a follow up to the last episode where she spoke on that topic.She begins with an aside considering hierarchies of Racism under White Supremacy, particularly in relation to the UK, France and the USA.She then goes through examples of differential treatment across racial lines and shares some thoughts on the reasons why these patterns are engrained within white supremacist society.Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine reflects on how, seemingly paradoxically, when Black people (and other marginalised groups) are idealised in the workplace it can put them at risk, and result in their denigration and/or devaluation.She begins by looking an an example, a Black doctor mentioned in Black Skin, White Masks by Franz Fanon: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/313127/black-skin-white-masks-by-fanon-frantz/9780241396667She expands on this concept to detail the ways that this doctor might be exceptionalised and idealised due to being a competent and skilled person from a group that is not seen to have those qualities. And how this sets them up to fail when any mistake is made on their part resulting in a pendulum swing where they are often seen as betraying the person or institution that was idealising them.Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.