2020 is drawing to a close – and what an unusual and turbulent year it has been for all of us. When we started planning the first episode of my podcast “Die Boss”, there were already signs on the horizon of what we nevertheless could not imagine in its full extent. To this day, Covid-19 continues to keep us on our toes – which is also reflected in the content of my podcast series. Thankfully, there were so many other interesting topics to talk about with my guests. In the 14th episode, the responsible editor Karin Stawski and I look back on our very personal highlights of “Die Boss”. I remember that, when Karin Stawski approached me with the idea of hosting a podcast at the beginning of the year – to which I enthusiastically agreed – I would never have dreamt of the illustrious guests I would welcome. Among them were, to name just a few, the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Verena Bentele, a record-breaking Paralympian, the infectologist Marylyn Addo and the commissioner of the Berlin police, Barbara Slowik. In terms of topics, the year also had a lot to offer: for example, the German government finally agreed on a quota law. In the future, there must be one woman on the boards of about 100 listed and fully co-determined companies.
The topic of women’s quotas was probably one of my personal highlights of this podcast, but also of my year in general: a previous opponent of such a quota, I absolutely agree with my podcast guest Janina Kugel that we need this legal support so that women in management positions become a standard in German companies. We are still struggling with this, especially in Germany – and Corona has only made the situation worse. Jutta Allmendinger, President of the Science Center Berlin, very aptly described this phenomenon as “the danger of concealment of women” in episode 11. In fact, current evidence shows that women are feeling the brunt of the Corona pandemic by having to juggle working from home, teaching their kids, and housework at the same time. For me, this development was one of the most frightening insights into our society to emerge from the pandemic.
The issue of women’s equality is obviously far from exhausted – and you’ll be hearing a lot more about it from me, too, because I’m happy to announce: The last 14 episodes of “Die Boss” were just the beginning. There will be a second season in 2021, and I thank everyone, especially the great team around Karin Stawski, for making this possible. We obviously won’t run out of topics anytime soon, and that’s also thanks to you, our much-appreciated listeners. Your praise and criticism, suggestions and questions have provided us with enough material for another season. I thank you all and hope you will continue to listen to us in the coming year.
Until then, I wish you a peaceful and enjoyable new year – Please stay healthy!