Perspectives

With Penny & Jennie from The Informed Perspective

In today’s fast-moving world, it’s easy to feel disconnected, from our communities, from other generations, and even from ourselves. The Informed Perspective exists to pause that rush, to listen more carefully, and to create space for meaningful reflection and dialogue. We believe that when people share their experiences—across generations, cultures, and backgrounds—they offer insights that strengthen the communities we live in. Conversations that begin locally can be enriched by broader voices, bringing fresh context, challenges, and inspiration that help us grow together. Each episode of our podcast also includes input from tween contributors, whose questions and reflections often open up new ways of thinking. Their contributions add richness to the conversation and create opportunities for learning and connection across all ages. This platform is about imagining better communities: by listening more closely, learning from each other, and finding new ways to reconnect with what matters, right where we are. Keep informing those perspectives. theinformedperspective.substack.com

  1. 13h ago

    Perspectives: Youth Mental Health

    We recorded this episode on youth mental health in response to what we are picking up in our community. We knew it would be an important conversation and it was. We came out of it feeling genuinely hopeful and that is not always the case with this subject. Rachel Kelly author of The Gift of Teenagers: Connect More, Worry Less, opened up about her own mental health journey in a way that took real courage. Ten years of severe depression. And here is the thing that struck us most, the first time it happened, she didn’t address it properly. She pushed through, carried on, and it came back. It was only the second time that she finally stopped and did the work. She was honest about what helped and what didn’t, about the years it took, and about what she now wishes she had known sooner. That kind of honesty is rare. And it matters, because her honesty gives permission. Permission to struggle. Permission to ask for help. And permission to try again when the first attempt doesn't work. What came through again and again in this conversation is that connection is at the heart of mental health. Being around other people. Showing compassion to others, and how that, perhaps surprisingly, builds compassion for ourselves. Rachel described a school where one house had measurably better mental health outcomes than all the others. The reason was a child in a wheelchair. The daily experience of showing up for someone else had built something in those young people that no lesson could teach. Yes, the statistics are dire. Half a million young people in the UK on waiting lists. A ten year delay between first symptom and getting help. But there is hope too. Stigma is reducing. More people are talking. And former teacher Vicki Barsby's Life Story Education programme , where teenagers role-play as parents navigating real life challenges, is producing results that formal sessions never reach. Because it gives young people agency. The sense that they can navigate difficulty rather than be overwhelmed by it. Because it gives young people agency. The sense that they can navigate difficulty rather than be overwhelmed by it. Both guests were clear that the change we need is not just a system change, it is a culture change. A culture in schools, in families, in communities where mental health is not a topic reserved for a rushed lesson once a term, but part of how we live alongside each other every day. Where asking for help is seen as strength. Where adults model the behaviour they want to see. Where young people do not have to reach crisis point before anyone notices. But it’s also clear that we need more spaces for this work. Spaces where young people can share their burdens without pressure, without a grade attached, without the bell about to go. We need an education system that sees the mental health of each child, not just their academic performance and gives them the tools to navigate difficulty and challenge before the pressure becomes too much. That means knowing who they can turn to. That means making mental health part of the fabric of school life rather than a rushed lesson once a term. And it means recognising something we sometimes forget. The mental health of parents and the mental wellbeing of their children are not separate things. They feed each other. Which means this conversation is for all of us, not just the young people in our lives. Listen In! Penny & Jenny Perspectives from the Informed Perspective Get full access to The Informed Perspective at theinformedperspective.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 18m

  2. 1d ago

    Perspectives: Family Dynamics

    In this episode we chatted with Catherine Carr, author of Who’s The Favourite? The Loving, Messy Realities of Sibling Relationships, and Dalton Conley, Professor of Sociology at Princeton, whose research into the genetics of family life has produced findings we weren’t expecting. Here is the one that has stayed with us most. Children shape their parents just as much as parents shape their children. From as young as 18 months, children with higher genetic potential for educational success are drawing more reading, more play, more cognitive investment from their parents, not because parents are consciously choosing it, but because the child is eliciting it. The parenting is a response to the genome. Catherine brought something equally striking from the human side. The roles our families assign us in childhood, the responsible one, the funny one, the difficult one, follow us into our adult lives in ways most of us don’t realise. Into our workplaces. Into our relationships. And the labels hold even when the person wearing them has long since moved on. There is also something in this episode about the conversations we never have. The ones where we sit down with our siblings as adults and ask: what was childhood like for you? What did you experience that I didn’t see? Catherine describes it as spinning around and suddenly seeing the whole story from the other side of the room. Most of us keep putting those conversations off. This episode is a gentle argument for having them sooner. The tween talk question at the end — “I love my family, but sometimes they really annoy me. Is that normal?” — got the most immediate answer of any question we’ve asked. Both guests, simultaneously: yes. Completely. The episode is out now — wherever you listen. Penny & Jenny Perspectives from the Informed Perspective Get full access to The Informed Perspective at theinformedperspective.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 3m

  3. May 28

    Perspectives: Youth Engagement

    We’ve just finished recording our Youth Engagement episode, and it has left me truly hopeful. We spend a lot of time worrying about whether young people are engaged. We spend considerably less time asking whether we are. This podcast is all about how we can co-design along side each other. Our guests were Abbee McLatchie, Deputy CEO of the National Youth Agency in England, and Paul Stepczak, a community engagement specialist who has co-facilitated nearly 100 co-design events across Wales. Abbee told us about a campaign that produced the biggest surge in youth voter registration the UK has ever seen — in one day. About 16-year-olds sitting with the Prime Minister, not for a photo, but for a real conversation. And about young people who shaped a national strategy — her hope being that they’re the ones who drive it forward. Owned, sustained, and decided upon by the very people it was built for. Paul told us about a room in Wrexham where businesspeople, politicians, and 14-year-olds wore the same lanyard. First name. No titles. And what happened when the hierarchy dissolved. There’s also something in this episode that gave us pause — about why so much well-meaning engagement still falls short. Paul has a name for it. You’ll want to hear it. One exchange has stayed with me in particular because it made me refect on our daughter. Our tween talk question: “Is there any point doing anything now, when nobody cares what we think?” Paul: “I care. Get in those spaces.” Abbee: “Start from where you are.” That’s the whole philosophy, really, in two sentences. Listen In. And in a few weeks, the floor will be entirely theirs: an episode devoted entirely to youth voice. Until then, keep listening. Penny & Jenny Perspectives from the Informed Perspective Get full access to The Informed Perspective at theinformedperspective.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 3m

  4. May 20

    Perspectives: Listening

    I’ll be honest, this episode has been sitting on our agenda for ages. Jennie and I have explored a lot of subjects on our podcast. Sleep. Identity. Discovery. Shyness. Motivation. Digital Balance. Third Spaces etc. But listening, really sitting down and dedicating a whole episode to listening, has been well overdue. Because in many ways, it’s the thread running through everything we do at The Informed Perspective. It’s the reason behind everything we do. We were joined by three incredible guests, Corine Jansen, co-founder of the Global Listening Movement; Jenny Smith, a receptive listening practitioner; and Dr. John Coleman OBE, a psychologist who specialises in parent-teen communication. Between them, they brought such different perspectives to the table. Something Corine said really stopped me in my tracks. She talked about how the real question in listening isn't whether you meant to listen well, it's whether the other person actually felt heard. And when I think about conversations I've had, or ones I've been on the wrong end of, that really hit home. Jenny brought in something I hadn’t come across before, the idea of co-regulation. That when one person in a conversation is genuinely present and grounded, the other person’s nervous system actually starts to settle. Listening isn’t just emotional. It’s physiological. I found that genuinely fascinating. And then John spoke about teenagers in a way that I think every parent needs to hear. The teenage brain is going through enormous restructuring and understanding that, changes everything about how we show up for the conversations that matter most. But honestly? The moment that got me most was at the end. We always close with a question from one of our tween contributors. And this time it was: “Why do adults always say ‘listen more’ — but never seem to do it themselves?” None of our guests could fully argue with the premise. Corine’s answer was the one I keep thinking about, she said that when most adults tell a child to “listen,” what they actually mean is “obey.” And that real listening only begins when our need to be right becomes slightly less important than the reality of the other person. That’s a hard thing to sit with. But worth considering. Jennie admitted that her boys are now so conditioned to hearing “listen” as a command that even when she genuinely wants to share something with them, they brace themselves first. I completely relate to that. And my youngest, who is 7, has started turning it back on me. Very calmly, he’ll say: “Mummy, you’re always talking about listening. Now you need to listen to me.” Which is, frankly, fair enough. 😄 This is exactly why we created our Are You REALLY Listening? events, intentional spaces where parents and young people come together to actually hear each other. In a world that pulls us in every direction, making that space deliberately feels more important than ever. And this episode is the heartbeat of all of that. This episode also connects to something bigger that I’m working on, a research project exploring how well we truly listen to one another in today’s world. If you haven’t already, I’d love it if you took five minutes to fill in the questionnaire. It’s completely anonymous, open to absolutely everyone, and every single response genuinely matters. 👉 Link to Take Part I’ll be sharing the findings once they’re collated and I can’t wait to find out what everyone is thinking and experiencing. In the meantime, press play and notice how you are listening today. Get full access to The Informed Perspective at theinformedperspective.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 9m

  5. May 4

    Perspectives: Tweens

    In our latest Perspectives podcast we consider the wonderful tween! This episode is close to our hearts because supporting tweens and young people sits right at the centre of what we do. It’s why we founded Tween Talk, our dedicated third space for this age group. We kept seeing the same thing: tweens slipping through the cracks. Not quite children, not yet teenagers — and somehow, that in-between place means they’re often the least supported of all. “I don’t want to be angry all the time. I just don’t know how to let it out.” That’s a real question from a real tween in this episode — and it captures exactly why this age matters so much. Mark Yeowell and family counsellor Jenny Warwick talk about the years we tend to rush past — ages 8/9 to 13 — and why they matter more than we think. The smartphone arrives and digital puberty begins. The friendship drama intensifies. The school transition hits. All at once. But here’s the important part: tweens are still reachable. Still curious about what you think. We can prepare them better for what’s coming. We can include them in the conversation. We just have to show up before the window of opportunity closes. 🎧 Listen in to find out more about the challenging yet exciting tween years and how we can support and prepare them best. Get full access to The Informed Perspective at theinformedperspective.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 13m

  6. Apr 15

    Perspectives: Parenting in Digital Times

    Our latest Perspectives Podcast is out! We’re pulling back the curtain on the “Digital Wild West” of parenting. This isn’t a lecture on screen time, it’s a candid conversation about the challenges of life today, the stats that keep us up at night, and how we actually bridge the gap with our kids. Who Joined the Conversation? * Parven Kaur (Founder of Kids and Clicks): A cybersecurity award nominee and mother who is a leading expert in online safety and digital parenting. She’s on a mission to move parents from “panic mode” to “proactive mode.” * Chris & Lily Perkins: A Gen X dad and his Gen Z daughter, who together host The Gen X/Z Exchange podcast. We often talk about tech as a tool, but for Lily’s generation, it was an unregulated social experiment. She and Chris get incredibly honest about the ‘guinea pig’ years, opening up about the missing conversations and the hidden hazards they didn't see coming. The Heart of the Episode * It’s a staggering figure: 90% of UK 11-year-olds own a smartphone. We accept that the digital world is here to stay, but we challenge the idea that parents have to be left in the dark. It’s time to trade "cluelessness" for "conscious awareness." * We dive into the gap between parental trust and digital reality. Chris shares his honest reflections on missing the signs of the “influencer comparison” trap when Lily was 11. We discuss how that lack of awareness back then is exactly why we need proactive, child-led conversations today. * App Vetting 101: Parven suggests a strategic framework for handling app requests. Instead of a flat “No,” learn how to make your kids research the pros, cons, and privacy settings themselves. * Safety as a Life Skill: Parven explains why we should treat the internet like road safety. You wouldn’t give a kid car keys without a lesson; why give them an unregulated portal to the world? * The Power of the “Micro-Chat”: Why the best digital parenting happens while you’re cooking dinner or walking the dog, not in a formal, scary “Big Talk.” The Takeaway We’re exploring the shift from control to collaboration. Ultimately, it’s about being the person your child runs to when things go wrong online, not the person they hide from. Success isn’t about the perfect filter; it’s about the depth of the trust you build today. Listen In & share your thoughts and experience of parenting in digital times! Get full access to The Informed Perspective at theinformedperspective.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 14m

  7. Mar 18

    Perspectives: Third Spaces

    Across every generation, we’re more connected than ever, through screens, networks, and constant communication and yet, in countless ways, we’re more alone. In this episode of Perspectives, we consider a question (actually one that came from one of our tweens!): What happened to the spaces where young people could just… hang out? Not structured.Not constantly supervised.Not needing to be productive or “on”. Just… space to be. We’re joined by Paul Billingsley, co-founder of Moot, rethinking where teenagers can actually spend time together; Janeane Bernstein, founder of the Outside the Box Institute, creating gentle, tech-free spaces for creativity and connection; and Sophia Kaur Badhan, bringing a young person’s perspective into policy, advocacy, and real-world change. We find ourselves talking about everything from teenage loneliness and social anxiety to the quieter disappearance of places where young people can just go to decompress. And we keep coming back to a few things: * why “designing for young people” doesn’t always land the way we think it will * how creativity and play can open the door to real connection * and why some of the smallest moments, a conversation, a shared activity, even something as simple as a free flower, can matter far more than we realise This conversation isn’t really about nostalgia. It’s more a gentle nudge to rethink how we’re creating connection in a world that’s increasingly lived online. And considering ways in which we can get involved, no matter how small. Have a listen if you’re thinking about young people, community, intergenerational cooperation and ways in which we can connect better. Get full access to The Informed Perspective at theinformedperspective.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 11m

  8. Mar 12

    Perspectives: Digital Balance

    In our latest podcast, we explore one of the defining challenges of modern life: balancing our time online and offline. At the same time, we ask a pressing question for families today, how do we raise children in a digital world that is designed to capture and compete for their attention? Yes, this is a topic that’s being talked about a lot, but it’s clear we still need to speak—and more importantly, listen—more. The struggle is real, and each of us can benefit from being more mindful and curious about how we interact online, and how much of our time it consumes. Joined by digital wellbeing educator Amit Kalley and psychology researcher Alex Sharpe, we examine the forces shaping our relationship with technology, from the rise of doomscrolling to the growing pressures parents face when navigating screens, smartphones, and social media. Alex explains how behaviours like doomscrolling are often driven by uncertainty, anxiety, and our natural negativity bias, while Amit highlights the realities families face when children are handed access to vast digital ecosystems without adequate safeguards or guidance. Together, we discuss the urgent need for greater digital literacy, stronger safeguarding, and open conversations between parents and children about the online world they are growing up in. These conversations are precisely what inspired us to create The Informed Perspective and Tween Talk. Our goal is not to dictate what families should do, but to gather diverse perspectives, explore the evidence, and empower parents to make informed choices that are right for their own families. We also reflect on the importance of creating more “third spaces,” community environments beyond home and school where young people and adults alike can connect, socialise, and spend meaningful time together away from screens. Ultimately achieving digital balance is not simple but it matters for all of us. There are no quick fixes, but mindful choices and family support can make a real difference. Listen In! Get full access to The Informed Perspective at theinformedperspective.substack.com/subscribe

    54 min
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About

In today’s fast-moving world, it’s easy to feel disconnected, from our communities, from other generations, and even from ourselves. The Informed Perspective exists to pause that rush, to listen more carefully, and to create space for meaningful reflection and dialogue. We believe that when people share their experiences—across generations, cultures, and backgrounds—they offer insights that strengthen the communities we live in. Conversations that begin locally can be enriched by broader voices, bringing fresh context, challenges, and inspiration that help us grow together. Each episode of our podcast also includes input from tween contributors, whose questions and reflections often open up new ways of thinking. Their contributions add richness to the conversation and create opportunities for learning and connection across all ages. This platform is about imagining better communities: by listening more closely, learning from each other, and finding new ways to reconnect with what matters, right where we are. Keep informing those perspectives. theinformedperspective.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    With Penny & Jennie from The Informed Perspective
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The Informed Perspective
  • Show Website
    Perspectives