The What Katie Did Podcast

Interview with London-based Psychologist and Psychoanalyst Bibiana Crocitta

Bibiana is an inspiring woman and a fantastic psychologist and psychoanalyst with many years of experience in the field. 
 
“My approach is to create a personalized, bespoke focus on executive individual development with the aim of aiding clients in taking their own decisions, leading their lives and capitalizing on their experiences. I utilize various cutting edge human resources activities, which help markets find what is best for their employees and customers,” says Bibiana.
 
Through her extensive traveling and know-how, she has attracted large corporate clients such as Microsoft, American Express, HSBC, KLM, The Economist and many more. 
 
Her contribution in this podcast is precious in gaining a better understanding of the behavior of trolls and also the effect of their actions on their victims. She helps us navigate the ever existing gender gap from its origins until our days and gives feedback on possible solutions for harassed women, in order to protect themselves better. 

Interview with Romanian Radio Journalist Irene*

Irene, whose name has been changed to avoid identification, has over 30 years of experience as a radio journalist in Romania. 
In this episode, she tells us about her home country pre and after communism and how things have changed from 30 years ago until now. She also speaks about sexual harassment at the workplace and how normal it was back when she started her career.
Through her story we can get a feel of how different cultures deal with harassment against women and with their place in society, which reflects also at work. 
Thanks to her resilience she has managed to build a longstanding career and learned how to protect herself from unwanted attention. 
At the age of 51 she moved abroad to continue her studies in journalism, learn a new language and experience life in a new place, free from the constraints of her hometown. 

Interview with Swiss Radio Journalist Angela*

Angela, whose name has been changed to avoid identification, is a young swiss journalist working for web, radio and press. 
When she had just started her job, many years ago, she faced sexual harassment by her boss at the time. 
Young Angela was left confused and back then she didn’t have the confidence she has today to denounce her bosses actions. Instead she kept the uncomfortable feeling of ‘something felt off’ to herself for many years. 
Until she later found out that this happened to other female colleagues of hers who spoke up about it, giving her the courage of behaving the same and validating that what had happened to her was indeed wrong.
Angela’s passion for journalism didn’t change, she keeps loving her job but she is more confident and more aware of her surroundings now, which would make her react differently if she were to face another situation like the one she faced in the past.  

Interview with Freelance Journalist Benedetta Argentieri

Benedetta is a brave Italian independent journalist and documentary director, mainly covering stories of women in war zones, with particular attention on the Middle East and the role of women in the islamic society. 
Her most recent documentary, called the Matchmaker, tells the story of a woman who lured scores of Western women to join the Islamic State. Using social media, she became a deadly matchmaker. 
In this episode, Benedetta tells us of the online threats she received while covering different stories abroad but warns also about the harassment women face in newsrooms. 
The intimidation and backlash she faced hasn’t stopped her from continuing doing what she is doing: she will continue to report from war torn places to give women a voice and tell the world what’s really going on there. 
She knows that she chose a career which comes with a lot of risks and she is ready to face whatever may come her way.

Interview with BBC Journalist Charlotte Smith

Charlotte is an experienced freelance journalist and radio & tv presenter, who can be seen on BBC1's Countryfile and heard on Radio 4. 
 
In 2009 she was controversially axed from Countryfile for not being ‘young or pretty’ enough. Now she is back, after the BBC Trust insisted on putting more women on air. 
 
In this episode, Charlotte discusses age and gender discrimination at the workplace by telling her story. She gives insights on the journalism world of the 80’s and 90’s explaining how she navigated these male dominated times at the BBC and how, what was seen as absolutely normal back then, would be outrageous today. 
 
Nevertheless, she kept fighting for her place and is back presenting on air and on radio at the age of 59, paving the way for women journalists of all ages to be able to continue their broadcast career until they retire.