Rigour & Flow with Aiwan and Tamanda

We step into the tangled, deeply personal politics of body image - and the fat and skinny shaming scripts that shape how we see ourselves, each other, and the people we love.

We open with a conversati…

We step into the messy truth about adulthood, rites of passage, and why so many of us hit 40 feeling… not quite grown.

Aiwan opens with Kendra Lindsay’s viral post - a rallying call to join the “Counc…

One of the most emotionally charged and quietly policed questions in the politics of race - a question so fraught, it’s almost unsayable: Are mixed race people “properly Black”?

This time, the questio…

We’re unpacking what our algorithms say about us, whether business can cure poverty across the continent of Africa, and why women are so obsessed with true crime as a genre.

Tamanda opens with a late-…

We take you inside one of the most joyful, radical, and hard-won celebrations of Black queer life: UK Black Pride. As the movement gets ready to mark another year, we reflect on Aiwan’s work on the U…

We dive headfirst into the contradictions and complexities of what it means to raise boys as a lesbian couple… especially when men have caused us so much harm?

Aiwan opens with a striking reflection o…

In this three-part episode of Rigour & Flow, we explore how race, gender, and language shape our lives,  and how health inequities, queer histories, and identity politics often get erased.

Aiwan opens…

We dig into the complicated world of entrepreneurship - from childhood side hustles and early money lessons to investment readiness culture, the “cult of startups”, and what it takes to grow a busine…

In this bonus segment, Tamanda and Aiwan dig deeper into the existing and emerging research around LGBTQ+ domestic violence.

They reflect on the stories we don’t hear, the data that doesn’t exist or i…

In this deeply personal and long-overdue episode, we unpack the silences, scripts, and systems that shape how we understand abuse, and how they fail queer people in particular.

Aiwan opens up for the …

⚠️ Content warning: domestic violence, emotional abuse

Some stories mark you.

Even when they’re not yours.

Even when you’re just eight years old, standing in the corner, trying not to breathe.

Even when …

Tamanda introduces us to a podcast that deeply moved her: Sunday School for Misfits, created by theologian and public educator Dr Selina Stone.

Tamanda shares how she first met Selina through a chance…

We’re keeping your ears and minds warm between seasons by spotlighting the shows and creators who are moving us, challenging us, and reminding us why we do what we do.

This week, Aiwan shares a pick c…

We’re back with another Notes from the Margins - our freestyle format where we bring the ideas, tensions, and fragments we’re still sitting with.

This one’s all about the stuff that didn’t feel done. …

We decided to do something a little different...

We went LIVE for the very first time. To reflect on the journey so far, answer listener questions, and share a glimpse of life behind the scenes of Rig…

What if time wasn’t neutral? What if urgency was a trap? What if the clock, like so many systems, was never made with us in mind?

We step outside grind culture to ask how time works, and who it works …

We’re taking it back to the roots - exploring the stories, struggles, and politics wrapped up in Black hair.

Aiwan opens up about being raised in a Pentecostal church that saw pride and beauty as sin …

We explore the complicated inheritance of being Black and British - and how migration, class, race, and belonging continue to shape our stories today.

Aiwan reflects on growing up in Britain as the da…

We open up about two family stories that changed how we understand mental health, culture, and the systems that claim to heal us.

Tamanda shares the story of her mother's diagnosis - and the painful r…

For this episode of Rigour & Flow, we’re back with another Notes From the Margins - our free-flowing format where we each bring something we can't stop thinking about.

Tamanda dives deep into the mess…