It was a pleasure to appear on the ‘My Mum Made Me’ podcast, hosted by Paul Afshar on 20 January.

In exploring the relationships with my mother and grandmother, I had the opportunity to reflect on how their lives and eccentricities have formed my own values and beliefs, including being a humanist.

Unlike the many people who become part of humanist organisations and have a religious past, I didn’t have to do much thinking when it came to identifying as a humanist as that’s the way I was raised. My grandmother was a working class woman who turned her back on conventionality and refused to be exploited by the church – religion just didn’t touch her life. My mother Julia is a self-described humanist who harnessed my interest in the human story as a child. I’ve always been fascinated by human beings: we’re incredible creatures who are able to carve out a space for meaning, purpose, and relationships in what would otherwise be a meaningless universe.

The second episode will be released this Friday 27 January. The podcast is available on all the usual platforms!