What you don't know about the mental load with Leah Ruppanner

What you don't know about the mental load with Leah Ruppanner

From Ladies, We Need To Talk by ABC Australia

August 24, 2026 · 26 min

About this episode

This episode explores the concept of the mental load that women carry and discusses ways to manage it with insights from sociologist Leah Ruppanner.

We've been talking about the mental load for decades, so why are so many women still carrying it? It's the unseen mental and emotional work we do to keep our lives running — the planning, problem-solving, and remembering that often goes unnoticed. The term isn't new, but our understanding of it is changing. Yumi is joined by sociologist Leah Ruppanner, who interviewed thousands of women as part of a research project to develop tools to help manage and lighten your mental load. As part of this research, Leah's developed a simple online quiz that breaks the mental load into eight categories, helping you see where your energy is going and how you might redistribute it. Further information Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More is published by Penguin Random House Free Mental Load Assessment | Lighten Lab | Professor Leah Ruppanner) This episode will answer questions like: What is the mental load? How can I reduce the mental load? How does carrying the load impact women? How can I share the mental load? What are the eight categories of the mental load What to listen to next: "Traded a husband for a bestie" Why these mums moved in together Worst ever dates, with Alita…

People in this episode

Host: Yumi

Guest: Leah Ruppanner

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ABC Australia, Penguin Random House, Lighten Lab

Books & works: Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More

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