Challenger Cities EP62: Cities for People Who Want to Try Things with Patti Baston

Most cities are designed around a surprisingly narrow idea of who gets to feel comfortable in public.

In this episode of Challenger Cities, Iain Montgomery chats with Patti Baston, who runs a feminisation makeover service in Manchester. On the surface, her work might sound niche. In practice, it turns out to be a sharp and unexpected lens on how cities really work, who they quietly exclude, and how play, permission, and experimentation get designed out of adult life.

We talk about growing up without space to express yourself, getting ready in café toilets, the freedom cities can offer through anonymity and density, and why permission might be one of the most overlooked forms of urban infrastructure. Along the way, the conversation touches on femininity, masculinity, power, vulnerability, internet culture, gentrification, and what happens when cities mistake control for care.

This isn’t a culture-war conversation. It’s a human one. About joy, play, and what it means to feel at ease in public.

Expect some swearing.