Perimenopause can be bad for your health. It’s not just the physical symptoms like weight gain, insomnia, exhaustion and loss of sex drive that can knock women sideways, the mental health impacts can be immense as well. Hormone fluctuations during this period can lead to mood swings, anxiety, brain fog and depression. To make matters worse, these symptoms are often misdiagnosed and mistreated. Help is at hand though! Yumi Stynes becomes an honourary member of the club and gets the 411 on all thi...
Aug 05, 2024•34 min
Have you ever had a sexual dry spell? And when we say dry, we mean years and years. Getting naked and doing the bedroom rodeo with another person can be daunting at the best of times, but especially if it’s been such a long time you’re worried you may have forgotten how to ride the horse. Anxieties begin to take over...Will everything work like it used to? What if they don’t like my body? And what if the dog walks in? So, how can you break the dry spell and get back in the saddle? Yumi Stynes an...
Jul 29, 2024•14 min
In life, there are a lot of random rules women stick to. One of them is not telling loved ones about a pregnancy until after the first trimester. But why??? The answer is more often than not, miscarriage.
Jul 22, 2024•26 min
Being in love feels so damn good, right? But what if you fall so deeply into your relationship, you start to forget who you are?
Jul 15, 2024•12 min
Swipe left, swipe right, match, meet, hook up, repeat. We all know the dating dance, but is it really serving us as women? Enter Hannah Ferguson, the 25-year-old media queen who isn’t afraid to tell us how it is. When Hannah was in her late teens and dating for the first time, Tinder ruled the scene and sex was available at the swipe of a finger. But a string of sub-par experiences left her wondering if hookup culture is selling women a lie. Have we come to expect scraps because that's all that'...
Jul 08, 2024•23 min
Women bear the load of most of the invisible (thankless) work in a household. And that shit gets heavy. School lunches, laundry, dentist appointments, shopping, snot-wiping, cleaning, care-giving – and don’t forget to get those 10k steps in while you’re at it! We're exhausted just thinking about it. Yumi dishes out advice on how to even out the mental load and take the weight off your shoulders. If you’ve got a snag in your life that you just can’t figure out, let us take on the burden! Send an ...
Jul 01, 2024•8 min
What if your appetite for sex was insatiable? Would you love to be boning every day, multiple times a day? There's this idea that it's men that are always lusting after sex. But guess what? Women can be horn dogs too! But that horniness often comes with the label "slutty". Yumi Stynes chats to women who are relishing their pleasure and enjoying plenty of orgasms while they’re at it.
Jun 24, 2024•30 min
When you’re stuck in the daily grind of working-mum life, sometimes it can be hard not to feel like a shitty mum. School lunches, getting them dressed (FFS), raising good humans, endless meetings – it's exhausting and soul-destroying. Yumi has some advice to ease the mum-guilt, when your heart is being yanked in opposite directions and backing away from work isn’t an option. If you’ve got a problem that not even your girl gang can help you solve, let us take on the burden! Send an audio note to ...
Jun 17, 2024•9 min
Yumi has been cheeky and stolen the keys to the ABC archive to bring out one of our favourite episodes. Life is tiring. The cozzi livs, the constant merry-go-round of caring and work and chronic stress can be overwhelming. For some, this relentless pace can lead to burnout.
Jun 10, 2024•26 min
If you’ve carried a baby, you may have had to deal with the fall out (literally) of pelvic prolapse. But having your organs pop out of your vagina isn’t limited to mammas, getting older is also a big factor.
Jun 03, 2024•8 min
Rosie Waterland’s mum was, to put it mildly, chaos personified. Charming and caring one minute, abusive and cruel the next. This year, she died. A moment Rosie was strangely prepared for. But her mum’s death left her to contend with the conflicting emotions of grief and relief. Yumi Stynes sat down with Rosie for a heart to heart about growing up with an abusive parent, grieving and coming out of the other side of childhood trauma. Featured in this episode: Rosie Waterland, author and podcaster ...
May 27, 2024•23 min
Would you like to flip the script and peg your partner? Yumi spreads the word on pegging your boo, how to introduce anal play into your sex life and the ins and outs of doing it (or not) so everyone feels good. If you’ve got a problem that’s doing your head in, never fear because your hottest, coolest agony aunt is primed and ready to help you out! Send us an audio note to ladies@abc.net.au
May 20, 2024•7 min
Weight gain, bristly hairs, no period. Welcome to Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. PCOS is one of the leading causes of infertility worldwide and it can cause debilitating physical and psychological symptoms. 1 in 8 women have PCOS, so that’s at least a couple of friends in your group chat. So why do we still know so little about it? Yumi Stynes catches up with ladies who’ve been battling PCOS for years and finds out how they get on top of it. Featured in this episode: Professor Helena Teede, female ...
May 13, 2024•32 min
Do you have to pry your partner off the couch with a fork-lift? Are they living in skanky trackies 24/7? Yumi spills the tea on what to do if your other half has gone full slob. Got a life problem you just can’t solve? Help is at hand! We’re handing the mic over to you, our lush listeners and taking the burden of problem solving off your shoulders... because Ladies, We Need To Talk... Back! Send us your questions as a voice note to ladies@abc.net.au - we can’t wait to hear from you!...
May 06, 2024•7 min
We live in a sex obsessed world, where hook-up culture is king and getting laid out like a spatchcocked chicken is a status symbol. But what if you’re a fully-fledged adult, paying your own bills and you’re still a “virgin”? Some women might hold off having sex for the first time because they want to meet the “right” person, others because they haven’t had the opportunity or are waiting until marriage. Whatever the reason, it can feel lonely and isolating when there so much noise around sex. Yum...
Apr 29, 2024•31 min
Uh oh, what’s that you smell... a funky odour down below? The thought of having a stinky crotch is nightmare fuel for some women, but do we even need to worry about our musky bouquet? The delicate aroma of our lady-garden can be affected by things like our menstrual cycle and our lifestyle but how do we tell when the stank goes from normal to full on malodorous pudenda territory and what can be done about it? It’s time to take off those undies and confront the smelly minge in the room with your ...
Nov 27, 2023•28 min
What happens when you want a divorce but the cost of leaving your marriage would cripple you financially? Would you ever stay in an unhappy marriage for the security money offers? It’s no secret, life is bloody expensive right now. From soaring rents to the cost of a bunch of broccoli, times are tough! So, sticking it out in a relationship you’re no longer happy in can seem appealing. Yumi Stynes talks to women who’ve had to make that extremely difficult choice. Featured in this episode: Victori...
Nov 13, 2023•27 min
What if we put a stop to marriage...for good? Like, just stop with flouncy white dresses, walking down the aisle and having a dude give us away. In her new book, I Don’t, Clementine Ford is calling for just that. She reckons that a ring on a finger is a bridal march to losing your identity. From the moment we come screaming into the world, we’re pushed the line that to find “the one” to get married and settle down is the be all and end all. You might discover a cure for cancer, scale Mt Everest ...
Oct 30, 2023•26 min
Do you wizz when you sneeze? Or avoid star jumps at the gym? One in four of us (!) have pelvic floor problems which can lead to incontinence and prolapse (eek). But don’t stress! Yumi Stynes has kegel’d her way back to the Ladies archives and dug up some reassurance that you can definitely turn things around. Just be prepared to clench.
Oct 16, 2023•29 min
You think you’ve met “the one” and they seem totally perfect for you, but is it all too good to be true? Could you be dating a narcissist? What starts out as a dreamy relationship filled with fancy presents and compliments galore, suddenly turns sour and you’re left wondering if you’re slowly losing your mind. Narcissists make up only 1% of the population but the impact they have on the women who date them can be truly devastating. Yumi Stynes meets women who have fallen in love with a narcissis...
Oct 02, 2023•29 min
Having sex can be exposing, nerve wracking. When we strip down, we reveal ourselves – and not just our bits. No wonder we sometimes reach for courage in a bottle. For some women, a few shots can make them feel comfortable enough to go home with that hottie from across the bar, for others the relationship between alcohol and sex can be more toxic. Yumi Stynes chats to women who are putting the lid back on the bottle and embarking on sex...stone cold sober. Featured in this episode: Tawny Lara, au...
Sep 18, 2023•29 min
Yumi has been on an adventure down to the depths of the ABC archives to uncover an absolute banger of an episode. On every form you ever fill out, there’s always a tick box about your romantic status — de facto, married, single. Why are we only judged on romantic relationships rather than some of the most important bonds in our life — our friendships? In this love letter to our friends, Yumi Stynes invites herself into the joyful friendship between Jamila Rizvi and Clare Bowditch and celebrates ...
Sep 04, 2023•31 min
Is the soundtrack to your life a ticking baby-making clock? What if you’re desperate to be a mother but the other half of the baby-making equation just hasn’t become available? Yumi Stynes meets women who have given the middle finger to the idea of the nuclear family and become solo mums by choice. From swiping for sperm; turkey-basting and solo sleep deprivation – find out what it’s really like to choose to parent on your own. Featured in this episode: Alexandra Collier – Author of Inconceivabl...
Aug 21, 2023•32 min
If you’re having trouble getting hot for your long-term partner? You’re not alone. Domestic bliss, smelling our partner’s farts, demanding kids – it feels like it’s all part of a worldwide conspiracy to shrivel our sex drive. So come hang with Yumi Stynes and sex nerd Emily Nagoski to get some practical advice on how to brush off the cobwebs, bring back our lady-boners and actually want to have sex with our life mate again. Featured in this episode: Emily Nagoski PhD – Sex researcher and author ...
Aug 07, 2023•30 min
Yumi Stynes has pinched the keys to the ABC podcast dungeon and has pulled out her absolute fave episodes for you. Are you team Dolphin or team Pubus Maximus? Pubic hair — it's one of the most scrutinised patches of hair on our bodies. Research says 80 per cent of women groom their Map of Tassie regularly. But why do we feel the need to pluck, shave, scrape, or zap our pubes at all? Yumi Stynes find out the meaning behind our pubey grooming choices. Featured in this episode: Mona Chalabi - Data ...
Jul 24, 2023•31 min
Getting naked in front of someone you’re about to get down and dirty with is a really vulnerable thing to do for even the most confident among us. But what about when you’ve spent your whole life being told your body isn’t desirable or sexy? And those messages are hitting you from everywhere. From television, movies, strangers on the street and even from the very people who are supposed to be into you. That’s the reality for a lot of women living in fat bodies out there, so how do you say a big ...
Jul 10, 2023•25 min
Do you scream foul obscenities at bad drivers? Chuck your phone violently on the bed when seething? Heard “that time of the month?” when you’re furious? Babes, you’re not alone. Women are foaming at the mouth with fury and we’re screaming at the top of our lungs. From the mental load to workplace bullying; sexism and just the patriarchy in general plus - HORMONES - there’s a hell of a lot to be ticked off about. Grab your safety gear and come smash some stuff with Yumi Stynes as she releases her...
Jun 26, 2023•25 min
So you hugged a workmate having a rough time – is that intimacy? Locked eyes and shared a giggle with a stranger in a spin class – does that count as intimacy? You just had some hook up sex – was it intimate? Here at Ladies HQ, we want to know: What even is intimacy? And when we think we're craving sex is what we are actually wanting, intimacy? (Lucky) Yumi Stynes gets up close and personal with Esther Perel (IRL!) about the importance of intimacy how we can all enjoy a bit more connection with ...
Jun 12, 2023•42 min
You're horny. You're hooking up. It's hot and heavy. Then, a hand makes its way to your throat… wait WTF? Yup. Choking during sex has hit the mainstream. Choking was once the kinda thing you'd only come across in the world of BDSM, but now thanks to our easy access to porn it's literally everywhere and young women are in its grip. A recent study discovered almost 60 per cent of female college students have been choked during sex, with a quarter having been choked by the time they're 17. Yumi Sty...
May 29, 2023•30 min
Are you guilty of compulsively stalking your ex on socials whilst ugly crying and eating ice cream out of the carton? Join the club baby. The soul-shattering, unbridled agony of a devastating break-up, is something we tend to avoid really letting ourselves feel. The most we might get from our mates is "get back on the apps babe, there are plenty more fish in the sea". Even though it’s a universal experience, heartbreak sits in the domain of teenage girls writing in their diaries rather than bein...
May 15, 2023•28 min
