The Operative Word: An ISCHP Podcast

Prefer your critical health psychology in podcast form?

We are thrilled to announce that The Operative Word is returning for Volume Two – kicking off early March.

The ISCHP podcast, The Operative Word, aims to feature special guests from the international community, and to offer invigorating discussion and thoughtful reflection on topics that have relevance for critical health psychology. At its core, this podcast is about providing a platform for ISCHP members and invited others to share their insights and reflections about subjects close to our hearts as critical researchers.

You can subscribe and listen to The Operative Word here

The Operative Word was started in 2018, edited by Britta Wigginton, Ally Gibson, and Brett Scholz. It produced six podcasts (in Volume One). In each, a different academic was interviewed about the 5 Minute Challenge they presented at the 2017 ISCHP Conference in Loughborough, UK. The Editors also wrote this blog post about their inspiration and motivation for creating The Operative Word podcast.

Volume Two, starting March 2025 will feature interviews with different foundational members of ISCHP, as they share their experiences building a career within critical health psychology. Join us as we unravel the complexities that shape how critical health psychologists understand health and wellbeing. From examining systemic inequalities to challenging conventional notions of health, we hope Volume 2 will spark your curiosity, while also celebrating the wisdom passed down by long standing ISCHP members. 

2.6. Catriona Macleod: Serious-Fun The Operative Word

In this sixth episode of Volume Two, Tracy Morison and Siobhán Healy-Cullen (Massey University, New Zealand) talk with Professor Catriona Macleod (Rhodes University, South Africa), a leader in feminist health psychology. Catriona reflects on doing socially engaged work in South Africa as “emotionally hard but intellectually productive”; navigating institutions, including funding bodies (!), that don’t always value critical work, and; work-life “balance” in an academic context focused on metricisation.Catriona works on the Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction research programme, and is engaged with multidisciplinary research projects related to sexuality and reproduction. You can read more about her work and career here:Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction research programme at Rhodes University: https://www.ru.ac.za/criticalstudies/⁠ Catriona’s ISCHP career file: ⁠https://ischp.net/2019/04/15/career-file-catriona-macleod/

You can subscribe and listen to The Operative Word here