Welcome to Thanks for Typing

Welcome to Thanks for Typing, a podcast that uncovers the largely invisible contribution of social researchers’ wives to studies that laid the foundations of modern sociology. Presented by Ros Edwards and Val Gillies, with support from Research Podcasts and the Sociological Review Foundation, Episode 1 will be released on Tuesday 19 March, 2024.

Credits

Hosts: Ros Edwards and Val Gillies
Producer: Chris Garrington
Music: The Beat of Nature, Olexy
Artwork: Krissie Brighty-Glover

Find out more about Thanks for Typing at The Sociological Review. 

Transcript

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Ros Edwards: 0:01

Hello, and welcome to Thanks for Typing. A podcast that uncovers the largely invisible contribution of social researchers' wives to studies that laid the foundations of modern sociology.

Val Gillies: 0:14

A podcast that we hope will make today's sociologists think about whose shoulders they stand on, and that will raise questions about the gender division of labour in today's academia.

Ros Edwards: 0:24

I'm Professor Ros Edwards from the University of Southampton.

Val Gillies: 0:27

And I'm Professor Val Gillies from the University of Westminster. Ros and I have spent many years revisiting the archive work of some of our most famous social researchers. And recently, we've been documenting the crucial but unacknowledged role their wives played in many of their studies.

Ros Edwards: 0:44

In 2017, a hashtag that was trending around the world on Twitter caught our eye. The hashtag #ThanksForTyping was started by an American professor of English, who was posting screenshots of the acknowledgement pages of books.

Val Gillies: 0:59

These acknowledgments overwhelmingly involved male authors thanking their wives. It was clear these wives had contributed much more than just typing. In many cases, they contributed to the primary research, carried out translated and transcribed interviews and much more.

Ros Edwards: 1:17

In fact, they were providing intellectual insights. And in some cases, even authoring works. The more we looked into the network world of post-war Sociology, the more unsung contributions to social research we uncovered.

Val Gillies: 1:33

So in our podcast, we'll find out how and why the thanks for typing hashtag went viral, reveal some of the major contributions the wives of sociologists made, and reflect on the implications of all of this for academic knowledge then, and now.

Ros Edwards: 1:48

So please join us on March the 19th for episode one of our podcast, which is presented by Val and me and produced by research podcasts with support from the Sociological Review Foundation.