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The Grumpy Social Workers

Soyeb Aswat and Siobhan Maclean

The Grumpy Social Workers is a podcast hosted by Soyeb Aswat and Siobhan Maclean, bringing honest, thoughtful, and occasionally grumpy conversations about the realities of the social work sector.

The podcast explores the challenges, pressures, practice issues, policy changes, and professional conversations shaping social work today, offering insight, reflection, humour, and straight-talking discussion for social workers and those across the profession.

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  • 7 episodes
  • Avg 30 min
  • English

Episodes 7

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  • S1 · E1
    July 16 · 29 min

    Why Grumpy Social Workers Matter | The Grumpy Social Workers | Episode 1

    In this first episode, Soyeb and Siobhan explore why social workers need room to vent, reflect, laugh, and be honest about the difficult parts of the job. The conversation challenges toxic positivity and makes space for the frustration, exhaustion, humour, and connection that can come with social work practice. They reflect on how practice has changed, how demanding environments shape wellbeing, and how the loss of informal spaces to decompress with colleagues can leave people feeling more isolated. The conversation is wide and varied exploring a range of issues in social work careers, including the all too familiar plans to leave social work to work in a supermarket, the experiences of neurodivergent social workers, the ongoing pressure of paperwork, and the importance of reflective practice as a meaningful form of self-care. This is an episode for anyone who has ever needed a safe space to say, “this is hard,” without being told to simply stay positive. It is a reminder that honesty, reflection, and connection are essential to sustaining social work practice.

  • S1 · E2
    July 16 · 40 min

    Supervision in Social Work | The Grumpy Social Workers | Episode 2

    In this episode, Soyeb and Siobhan explore the role of supervision in social work and why it matters for safe, reflective, and sustainable practice. The conversation looks beyond supervision as a process of oversight and considers what happens when it becomes too focused on systems, compliance, and organisational demands rather than meaningful support. They reflect on the supervision they receive and the supervision they provide and their learning from this, recognising that supervision is a two-way process. The episode encourages listeners to think about what they can do differently in their own supervision. The conversation explores the challenges faced by supervisors and the limitations of dated models that do not always meet the needs of contemporary practice. The discussion explores how supervision can be tailored to individual needs, the importance of psychological safety, and the personal, professional, and organisational functions that good supervision should thread together. The episode also considers the relationship between trauma and supervision, as well as the barriers and enablers that shape whether supervision feels useful, safe, and restorative. It asks what a good supervision session should look like and how practitioners and organisations can create spaces where honest reflection, challenge, and support are all possible.

  • S1 · E3
    July 16 · 36 min

    Social Work Professional Identity | The Grumpy Social Workers | Episode 3

    In this episode, Soyeb and Siobhan explore professional identity in social work and ask why social work is so often associated primarily with local authority practice. The conversation challenges narrow ideas of where social work happens and opens up a wider understanding of the profession, its values, and the many settings where social work knowledge and skills can make a difference. It also considers how social workers hold on to their professional identity when the words “social worker” are not part of their job title. They reflect on the idea that social work can happen anywhere, including less traditional spaces such as veterinary social work, and consider what these examples reveal about the breadth and adaptability of the profession. The episode invites listeners to think beyond job titles and organisational settings, focusing instead on the values, ethics, relationships, and ways of seeing the world that shape social work identity. The conversation also explores how personal identity shapes professional identity, including how lived experience, values, and a sense of purpose influence the way social workers practice and understand their role. Soyeb and Siobhan reflect on professionalisation, the core values of kindness and social justice, and the political nature of social work, recognising the links between social work practice, power, inequality, and wider social change. It is an episode about pride, passion, and the importance of recognising social work as more than a role, a workplace, or a statutory function.

  • S1 · E4
    July 16 · 35 min

    Anti-Oppressive Practice | The Grumpy Social Workers | Episode 4

    In this episode, Soyeb and Siobhan explore anti-oppressive practice and what it means in contemporary social work. The conversation reflects on how understandings of anti-oppressive practice have changed across their careers and considers the difference between practice that is actively anti-oppressive and practice that is simply non-oppressive. They discuss the oppression faced by people who use services, as well as the experiences of students, newly qualified workers, and social workers whose identities and experiences are too often marginalised within the profession. This includes social workers from the Global Majority, care-experienced social workers, and neurodivergent social workers, while also naming racism within social work and the wider systems that shape practice. The conversation considers how oppression can become normalised in organisations and practice cultures, particularly when it is not challenged by colleagues, managers, or leaders. Soyeb and Siobhan reflect on whether social workers challenge enough, what it means to understand different perspectives without excusing harm, and how the current political climate influences the conditions in which social work takes place. The episode also explores the role of social workers as disruptors, asking how practitioners can challenge oppressive systems while remaining thoughtful about relationships, power, and accountability. The discussion considers the difference between calling out and calling in and the responsibility of leadership to address oppression rather than allowing it to be minimised, avoided, or left to those most affected. It is an episode about courage, reflection, and the ongoing work required to make anti-oppressive practice more than a value statement. It asks what social workers can do, individually and collectively, to notice oppression, challenge it, and create safer and more just spaces within practice.

  • S1 · E5
    July 16 · 36 min

    Virtual Working and AI | The Grumpy Social Workers | Episode 5

    In this episode, Soyeb and Siobhan explore virtual working and artificial intelligence in social work. They reflect on their different experiences of AI, with Soyeb using it regularly and Siobhan approaching it more cautiously. The episode recognises the mixed messages often given to students about AI, while acknowledging that it is already part of the world they are learning and practising in. Rather than pretending AI is not being used, the conversation asks how social workers, educators, and organisations can engage with it critically, ethically, and transparently. The conversation explores both the benefits and risks of AI, including the need to be clearer about what tools are being used, why they are being used, and who is being affected by them. Soyeb and Siobhan consider whether social work is being critical enough about AI and how questions of environmental impact, power, access, bias and accountability connect this discussion to anti-oppressive practice and green social work. The episode also considers virtual and home-based working and the impact this has on relationships, creativity, learning, and professional development. They ask whether new ways of working risk narrowing how social workers engage with people and what is lost when students and practitioners have fewer informal opportunities to learn alongside colleagues in shared spaces. It is an episode about curiosity, caution, and the importance of keeping people, relationships, ethics, and reflection at the centre of social work as technology continues to change the conditions of practice.

  • S1 · E6
    July 16 · 34 min

    Reflecting on the Podcasting Experience | The Grumpy Social Workers | Episode 6

    In this episode, Soyeb and Siobhan reflect on the experience of making the podcast and look back at the themes, conversations, and questions that have shaped the series. They consider what they had hoped to achieve through the podcast and how the process has helped them revisit their own thinking about social work, learning, reflection, and professional identity. The conversation explores the importance of critical friends and the value of creating spaces where social workers can think out loud together. Soyeb and Siobhan reflect on wanting to recreate something they valued early in their careers: the opportunity to listen in to more experienced social workers talking honestly, critically, and thoughtfully about practice. They also reflect on their own learning from the podcasting process, including the different styles they each bring to the conversations and the importance of making time to pause, review, and wonder. The episode touches on the Wareing model of reflection, using ideas of me, my, more, and must as a way of thinking back over what the series has opened up for them. The episode returns to themes from earlier conversations, including anti-oppressive practice, trauma, leadership, professionalisation, and the relationship between politics and social work. Soyeb and Siobhan consider how safe people feel when discussing difficult topics and the need for honesty, humility, and accountability when talking about oppression, race, privilege, and power. The conversation also reflects on leadership in social work, togetherness, and the importance of social workers coming together rather than becoming isolated or silenced. They ask whether professionalisation can sometimes be used to limit challenge and consider how social work can remain connected to its political, relational, and collective roots. It is an episode about reflection, learning, and the value of continuing conversations that are unfinished. It invites listeners to think about what they have taken from the series and whether there is more to say about the things social workers are still grumpy about, including leadership, continuing professional development, funding pressures, and the future of the profession.

  • July 13 · 1 min

    The Grumpy Social Workers | Trailer Episode

    Two social workers. Plenty of experience. Even more opinions. Welcome to The Grumpy Social Workers, a podcast with Siobhan Maclean and Soyeb Aswat exploring the realities, frustrations and big conversations surrounding social work. Why are they grumpy? You'll have to listen to find out. Expect honest conversations, professional disagreements, strong opinions, humour and reflections from two people who care deeply about social work and aren't afraid to question what's happening in the profession. In this short trailer, Siobhan and Soyeb introduce the podcast, explain where the idea came from and give you a taste of what's to come. Follow the podcast and join the conversation.

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