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This is a podcast review of Season 2 of The Pay Check podcast. The show focuses on the gender wage gap and the motherhood penalty.
Season 2 of The Pay Check is now four episodes into its 6-episode run. The podcast is produced by Bloomberg, hosted by journalist Rebecca Greenfield, and features reporting by additional Bloomberg staff. Episodes drop on Wednesdays.
Season 1 of The Pay Check was all about the gender wage gap, mostly in the United States, but also featuring stories from around the world.
Season 2 digs deeper into the issue, focusing on how motherhood - more than any other factor - contributes to the pay differential between men and women.
After listening to just the first two episodes, I also started to get really heated about this topic.
Where Season 1 had me banging my head against the wall in frustration, Season 2 has left me feeling puzzled, annoyed, and a little hopeless. Because it seems hypocritical and absurd when you consider the number of people celebrating Mother's Day right around now.
In parts of Europe and Africa, Mother’s Day was last weekend. In the US and dozens of other countries, it will be celebrated on Sunday. Seemingly every country and culture in the world has a day to honor mothers, while also having an unbalanced system that penalizes women for taking on this role.
I don’t take pleasure in being a killjoy for anyone who is looking forward to Mother’s Day. I know many wonderful women who should be honored for the sacrifices they have made for their children.
The problem is that, for this one day each year, we're showering mothers with love and gifts in order to show them how much we value their roles as mothers. For the other 364 days each year, we're letting employers undervalue these same women because they have children.
As Season 2 of The Pay Check explains, this isn't just an unfortunate catch-22. There's a real mindset and culture behind treating women with children different in the workplace.
An Unbiased Podcast Review?
I've chosen to publish this podcast review now, because we're so close to the Mother's Day holiday. If there's ever a perfect time to learn more about how mothers are paid less than everyone else, it's now.
And it's obvious that I've already formed an opinion about the information presented in the first four episodes of The Pay Check.
That said, my intention is to write a podcast review, not an opinion piece on the topic of the gender wage gap or the motherhood penalty (hit me up in the comments section for that discussion).
So, if you're wondering if this podcast is any good, keep reading.
Well-produced & Engaging
One of the aspects I like to touch on in podcast reviews is the production (sound, editing, music and other enhancements). As any podcast listener knows, even with a great concept or host, a podcast can bomb if it isn't well-produced.
The Pay Check is created and produced by Bloomberg, the huge financial, software, and media company. I expected top-notch quality, and that's what I got.
Episode 1 drew me in quickly with inviting intro music. And like Season 1, each episode features an energizing and powerful montage of audio clips about equal pay. The new season's montage adds in clips about motherhood.
The entertainment level of this podcast is high. It's well-edited and the background music enhances the story without being disruptive.
The most important point I want to make about the production is that host Rebecca Greenfield manages to weave a narrative with the stories and interviews that are presented by a handful of other reporters. It all feels seamless and easy to follow, even though there are at least five or more female voices per episode.
Those of you who read my podcast review of Broken Harts will remember how difficult I found it to keep track of just three female hosts. This isn't only a pet peeve of mine; this is a complaint that many podcast listeners have about shows with multiple hosts of the same gender.
Tone & Presentation
Surprisingly, The Pay Check doesn't take itself too seriously. Alongside a lot of historical information, economic facts and figures, and interviews of women who had their careers affected by their roles as mothers, there are some cute moments and palatable sarcasm.
There are plenty of moments that had me feeling warm and sympathetic towards the women interviewed. Many speak of their struggles to "have it all" and balance a career and motherhood (or simply, society's expectations).
It would be easy to come into this podcast thinking that it's going to be a lot of finger-pointing and shouts of "that's not fair!". But the show is more even-keeled than that. It's a presentation of facts and experiences, and they're presented in a pretty objective manner.
In addition to being easy to listen to, the information presented in The Pay Check is easy to follow.
When I think of Bloomberg, I think of financial and economic "data". I'm totally intimidated by these things, and I worry that I won't be able to follow along.
I find the information in (both seasons of) The Pay Check to be completely accessible to the average listener. You do not need to know anything about economics to understand this podcast.
International listeners can also rest assured that most of the US-based information is put into context, and that the show covers a lot of stories about the wage gap outside of the US.
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Pacing
Even though the episodes drew me in quickly, I did have a hangup about the pacing of the episodes. The editing is well-done and cohesive, but I found certain parts of the narrative to be spoken too slowly.
I’ve become accustomed to listening to podcasts on a speed of 1.2 or 1.3 times the regular speed (I’m able to squeeze in more podcasts that way).
For the sake of reviewing this podcast, I listened to the last two episodes on regular (1.0) speed, which is when I found the pace just a little slow for my tastes.
It's possible that this is due to my listening habits, and not the rate of speed in which the podcasters spoke. I suppose the takeaway here is that it isn't disruptive to listen to The Pay Check at a higher speed, if that's your thing.
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Episode Topics
I award high praise to the person (or team of people) who determined the episode topics and sequencing for Season 2.
Short podcast series like this one need episodes that build on each other, because there's a definitive end date to the story. It requires some careful thought and planning, because once you get rolling, you can't stray too far from the outline (without risking listener confusion).
There's no shortage of information on how motherhood affects the gender wage gap, and The Pay Check aims to present it all in just six episodes.
From the moment I listened to episode 1, I had several questions running through my mind. "What about this factor?" "What about that circumstance?" Then, as each episode dropped into my feed, those questions were answered.
Each of the first four episodes of Season 2 have been thorough in their own right. They've also been good building blocks for the subsequent episodes. I expect episodes 5 and 6 to fall in line.
Advertisements
If you've ever read one of my podcast reviews, you know that I'm pretty picky about ad placement and content. The good news: this podcast does not have any ads.
There are literally no host-read ads or breaks during the episodes. Episodes are approximately 25-30 minutes of straight, on-topic discussion and reporting.
Recommendation
I absolutely recommend listening to Season 2 of The Pay Check, based on its production quality, thorough reporting, and easy-to-listen-to tone.
I'm also recommending this show because it addresses a topic that affects each and every one of us in some way (even single men with no children - go listen to episode 4!)
It's my hope that this podcast sheds some light on the reason I think women with children need to be valued by society for all the roles they play, and not just honored one day a year for having raised children.
If you really want to get a handle on the gender wage gap, I also recommend Season 1 of The Pay Check.
Have you listened to Season 2 of The Pay Check? What did you think? Leave a comment below to join in the discussion about this podcast.
Incisive, thoughtful review / article.
I’ve never considered just how much motherhood alters the economic prospects of a woman.
Thank you for a great read, and I’ll certainly check out The Pay Check!
Thank you, Pedro. I appreciate your kind words! If you’re not already very familiar with the stats and history behind the gender wage gap, Season 1 of the Pay Check is also worth a listen.
I’m also kind of intimidated by economic data and such, but the way you presented this podcast makes me want to jump in and listen right away. I can see that Bloomberg took an important topic and made it accessible and interesting. Podcast win! I’ll def be checking it out. Thanks for the insightful review.
Hi Bethany! I promise you, this is not a scary economic podcast! And yes, this is such an important topic. The 5th episode dropped today, and I’m listening to it right now! I can’t get enough of this show, even though the info presented aggravates me to no end.