Our guest for this week’s episode is Swedish best selling author, financial journalist and women’s economic champion, Katrine Marçal. 

Katrine’s two books, ‘Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner’ and her latest book – ‘Mother of Invention – How Good Ideas Get Ignored in an Economy Built for Men’ explore how women’s roles and contribution have been systemically ignored over time. 

Katrine has a fun and engaging way of telling stories that show just how much we’ve missed out on by overlooking the value women bring to the table. Not surprisingly, she also shares how frustrated she is that we’ve missed out on countless potential innovations because there haven’t been enough women involved in the process. 

Katrine’s first book was named one of The Guardian’s Books of the Year in 2015 and she was named as one of the BBC’s top 100 women in the same year. Her latest book builds on this impressive record. 

In this fascinating discussion you’ll learn: 

• How the founder of modern economics, Adam Smith, overlooked one very important factor when he came up with his ‘self interest’ theory and what impact that’s had on women and what we’re paid,
• How innovation history has overlooked or re-written women’s vital role in computer science and the founding of software,
• How and why a company that specialised in women’s underwear won the contract to make the spacesuits that took the Apollo astronauts to their history making landing on the Moon; and
• How Katrine herself comes up with her original ideas and perspectives.

So sit back, enjoy and be prepared to have your eyes opened by the insightful and engaging Katrine Marçal. 

 

Useful Links

Katrine’s website – find her books here

SheEO home page 

Interview with Vicki Saunders, CEO of SheEO