In today’s episode, Tanya Sweeney tells Roisín Ingle why the opening of an Oliver Bonas store in Dublin is bad news for our wallets. (She spent too much on a neon rainbow lamp. What? It sparked joy!) They also discuss that car crash Prince Andrew interview and after encouraging us all to de-clutter our homes, ask why is Marie Kondo now selling her own home-ware range? Also on this episode, Roisín speaks to Alison O’Connor and co-founders of the Together For Yes Campaign, Ailbhe Smyth and Orla O’...
Nov 21, 2019•1 hr 15 min
Last week The Women’s Podcast left behind the usual surrounds of the studio for a live recording in House on Leeson Street, with thanks to our sponsors Green & Black's. Marian Keyes was the special guest on the night and treated the live audience to an exclusive excerpt of her brand new book Grown Ups. Marian also spoke about her love of the dark winter nights, why she keeps turning down Dancing With The Stars and how she feels about Ireland in 2019. She also gave some exclusive news about a...
Nov 18, 2019•54 min
In this episode, Róisin speaks to entrepreneur, author and ground breaking business leader, Margaret Heffernan. As the former CEO of five businesses, Margaret shares her incredible insight into the complexities of how an organisation works. Having spent a lot of her career focusing on the role of women in business and leadership roles, Margaret also speaks about how women can positively change the workplace culture and how helpfulness is the key to any happy working environment. Also, Roisín and...
Nov 14, 2019•55 min
In this episode we are joined by former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power. The Dublin born academic and author talked to Kathy Sheridan about how she became one of the most powerful women in American Foreign Affairs and discussed her acclaimed memoir The Education of An Idealist. Power also goes back to her difficult childhood in Dublin and the custody battle which led to her, aged 9, leaving Ireland and making a home in America with her mother and brother. She talks about Trump, Barack Oba...
Nov 11, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Today we’ve dedicated the podcast to Gay Byrne - the legendary broadcaster who died on Monday 4th November - and specifically to his impact on women in Ireland. Most of the listeners to his radio show were women, he regularly made space for women on both radio and on The Late Late Show, allowing their voices to be amplified on topics such as divorce, sex, religion, contraception and feminism. He allowed Ireland to see women in a way that challenged the pervasive view in the 19709s and 1980s. One...
Nov 07, 2019•39 min
Margaret Atwood is a literary legend and you can imagine how excited we were to have her on The Women’s Podcast for the third time. As author of The Handmaid’s Tale - and many other award winning novels - she brought us the world of Gilead and started a powerful global conversation about women which still resonates today at a time when Donald Trump is the leader of the free world and reproductive rights continue to be restricted in America. Along with Bernadine Evaristo she has just won the Book...
Nov 04, 2019•1 hr 1 min
In what was a momentous week for Northern Ireland, The Women’s Podcast travelled to Belfast for our first podcast recording in that beautiful city.It was the week abortion was decriminalised in the North after a long grassroots struggle by feminist activists. So what happens next?Panellists including Alliance for Choice activist Danielle Roberts, performer Kellie Turtle and Alliance party Assembly member Paula Bradshaw discussed the conversation that will happen in the North over the five month ...
Oct 31, 2019•1 hr 19 min
In this episode, Kathy Sheridan talks to women and organisations who have benefited from the Mná na hÉireann Women of Ireland fund which was set up to increase the economic mobility of women across the country. We also mark the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month by talking to one survivor of the illness who now volunteers educating women and girls in how to detect early signs of the illness. Ger Collins (46), tells Róisín Ingle how she was so grateful for the help she received, following a dia...
Oct 28, 2019•55 min
Barefoot Pilgrimage is a new book by Andrea Corr, the musician, songwriter and actress who was the lead singer of pop group The Corrs with her three siblings Sharon, Caroline and Jim. The memoir is a love letter to her late parents Jean and Gerry and a meditation on life, grief and hope. Corr came in to The Women’s Podcast studio and talked to Roisin Ingle about the memoir, her career, religion, feminism, bodily autonomy, family, loss and the joy and release of expressing herself through words. ...
Oct 24, 2019•47 min
The BBC broadcaster Emma Barnett was the first person in the UK to announce she was menstruating on live TV news. Now she has written a call-to-arms manifesto on why we need to destroy the ludicrous stigma around periods. In the second part of our True Blood series, Emma talks to Kathy about the history of the taboo of periods, the stories women shared with her for the book and the new wave of activism dedicated to normalising menstruation. Emma also talks about being diagnosed with endometriosi...
Oct 21, 2019•32 min
In the first of a two-part series, we explore why we find periods so hard to talk about and what can be done to help break the stigma that still exists around them. For today’s show, Kathy is joined by Labour councillor Deirdre Kingston, Niamh Dunne, a youth ambassador for Plan International Ireland, and by Claire Hunt of Homeless Period Ireland, to discuss first periods, taboos, period poverty and lots more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 17, 2019•48 min
In today's podcast, journalist and founder of the Positive Birth Movement, Milli Hill, talks to Jennifer Ryan about her book Give Birth Like a Feminist. She says pregnant people need to realise that they have choices when it comes to giving birth and the power imbalance between health professionals and those giving birth needs to be redressed. Also in this episode, Róisín Ingle chats to Susan Jane White about her new cook book, Clever Batch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...
Oct 14, 2019•49 min
In today's podcast, Kathy and Róisín revel in the joys of WAGatha Christie; Tanya Sweeney speaks candidly about postnatal depression; and Irish Times journalist Jack Power reviews 'Consent: Everything a Guy Needs to Know about Sex, Love and Consent', Inti Chavez Perez's sexual health and relationships guidebook aimed at boys and young men. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 10, 2019•51 min
Flo Perry is a writer and illustrator, who has managed to make a career out of her passion for drawing breasts and penchant for quizzing people on their sex lives at parties. In her book 'How to Have Feminist Sex', she explores everything from faking it, to consent; from stress, to kink; and how losing your virginity isn't so different to eating your first chocolate croissant. In today’s podcast she talks to Róisín about the book and her mission to get more people talking openly about what they ...
Oct 07, 2019•20 min
Last night The Irish Times, in association with Green & Black’s Chocolate, brought Oh My God What A Complete Aisling authors Sarah Breen & Emer McLysaght to The Docklands in Cork for a live recording of the Women’s Podcast.Róisín sat down with Sarah and Emer to discuss their third novel 'Once, Twice, Three Times an Aisling', their plans for the fourth book, what it’s like to write with your best friend and the rip-roaring success of the Aisling series as a whole.In today’s podcast, we br...
Oct 03, 2019•46 min
In today’s podcast, Róisín talks to singer-songwriter Wallis Bird about her sixth album 'Woman', which is released this week. Wallis talks to Róisín about what's inspired her for the new album - #MeToo, Trump, Brexit, the war in Syria - about how falling in love and being in a grown-up relationship has changed her, why she shaved her head to record 'Woman', and why living in Berlin is as annoyingly cool as it seems.**A reminder that the annual march for choice takes place this Saturday 28th Sept...
Sep 26, 2019•40 min
In her new book ‘Republic of Shame’, journalist Caelainn Hogan examines Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes and the collusion of the Catholic Church with the Irish State. Personal accounts from survivors, nuns and others bring the truth forward for all to see. In today’s podcast, Róisín speaks to Caelainn about the stories of the women she spoke to, the lack of understanding of the suffering they endured and the appalling legacy of Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...
Sep 23, 2019•33 min
In 2018, Limerick woman Vicky Phelan became a household name as Irish women's voice for justice, when she chose to speak out and lift the lid on what has become one of the greatest political and medical scandals of our time. In today’s podcast she talks to Róisín about her memoir ‘Overcoming’, which details her remarkable personal story from her early life and a life-threatening accident, through to motherhood, a battle with depression and later, her devastating discovery that her cancer had ret...
Sep 19, 2019•54 min
In today’s episode, Cork woman Vera Twomey talks to Kathy about her memoir, For Ava. Ava is Vera's daughter and she suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that causes multiple seizures a day. The only medication that has any effect on Ava's condition is a form of medicinal cannabis that Vera has, for years, fought tooth and nail to gain access to. For Ava tells the story of that campaign, pays tribute to those who helped the family achieve their goal and shows the lengths a parent...
Sep 16, 2019•34 min
In today's podcast, journalist, author and podcaster Sophie White talks to Róisín Ingle about her debut novel, Filter This, in which she peels back the social media mask that many people wear to disguise what’s really going on in their lives.Following her comments about candidate selection this week, Fianna Fail Councillor and General Election candidate Lisa McDonald discusses her belief that the party has a problem with women.Plus: Journalist and wheelchair user Louise Bruton explores the probl...
Sep 13, 2019•55 min
Nunchi is a guiding principle of Korean life, considered essential for survival, happiness and success. Roughly translating as self-awareness, Nunchi is the art of a reading a room and using that knowledge for the good of everyone in it. Korean-American author Euny Hong has written the ultimate guide to this secret skill, The Power of Nunchi. In today's show, she talks to Róisín about good and bad nunchi, the difference between nunchi and empathy, and how anyone can learn this superpower the Kor...
Sep 09, 2019•22 min
On today’s podcast: Kathy speaks to the District Attorney of Suffolk County in Massachusetts, Rachael Rollins, who is the first woman to hold that particular office and also the first woman of colour to be appointed as a DA across the whole of Massachusetts Commonwealth. Rollins was in Dublin ahead of her appearance at the Kennedy Summer School in Co. Wexford this weekend. They talk about her landslide victory, her drive to reform criminal justice, Trump, and why she fears no man.Also today: Rói...
Sep 05, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Ross O’Carroll-Kelly books have sold over a million copies and creator, Paul Howard, is both adored by fans and revered by critics as the greatest satirist of this generation.In the latest Ross book – Schmidt Happens – women take centre stage. Ross’s wife has just given birth to a baby that isn’t his, his son has walked out on his wife-to-be and his own mother is threatening revenge on Ross for an incident involving an olive in a martini.On today's show Róisín talks to Paul about how Ross is get...
Sep 02, 2019•35 min
Just over a century ago, Trinity College Dublin admitted its first female student. This year, the 400-year-old university reached another milestone: it has elected its first ever all-female line-up of officers across both the students’ and graduate students’ unions. On this week's show, Kathy talks to president and vice-president of the graduate students’ union respectively, Shaz Oye and Gisèle Scanlon, about how that came about and what it says about women and activism in 2019. They also speak ...
Aug 22, 2019•32 min
On today’s show, Rachel Flaherty chats to Irish journalist Jenny McQuaile about her powerful documentary Straight/Curve - starring Tess Holliday & Iskra Lawrence. Jenny talks about the body image crisis affecting women & girls worldwide and why we need a more diverse range of role models in the fashion industry and the media.Straight/Curve: http://www.straightcurvefilm.com/Plus: Bernice Harrison speaks to Mary Moynihan and John Morgan, two of the organisers behind the upcoming Dublin Art...
Aug 15, 2019•47 min
On today’s podcast – Bernice Harrison talks to the half-Irish half-French author Moira Fowley-Doyle about her third novel for young adults, All The Bad Apples, which tells the stories of a line of women doomed to follow in their ancestor’s footsteps and have their lives turned upside-down at 17.Later, Jennifer Ryan speaks to the British author Emma Jane Unsworth, whose hugely successful book about female friendships – Animals – has been adapted for the big screen and will be in cinemas here from...
Aug 08, 2019•36 min
Kathy Sheridan talks drag queens, the Irish lesbian scene and the biggest LGBTQ+ party to bring the summer to a close, Love Sensation, with Cormac Cashman, Lisa Connell and Victoria Secret.Plus: “The world was charmed when she was around"- Rachel DeLoache Williams talks to us about her book, My Friend Anna, telling the explosive true story of Anna 'Delvey' Sorokin, the fake German heiress who fooled New York's elite.But first: Tanya Sweeney and Róisín Ingle on the reality of maternity leave and ...
Aug 01, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Is catcalling really a problem? Some people might consider it complimentary, but for many women and girls it’s anything but. Often catcalling and other forms of street harassment can actually be quite frightening.A 2015 Dublin City Council report into sexual harassment in Dublin, for example, showed that sexual harassment is a frequent and distressing occurrence for women and girls and that for many women walking the streets of Dublin, catcalling, wolf whistling, and being shouted at from cars i...
Jul 25, 2019•1 hr 5 min
In this episode Irish Times journalists Polly Dennison and Roisin Ingle talk to host Kathy Sheridan about Donald Trump’s racism and the four congresswomen of colour who have stood up to him. Known now as The Squad they are Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Polly also tells us about Zara’s polka dot dress of the summer (“it’s horrendous on me” she says). Also in the episode, our Book Club returns with a v...
Jul 18, 2019•1 hr 14 min
In a momentous week for Northern Ireland with MPs in Westminster voting to extend abortion and same sex marriage rights to the North, we talk to Danielle Roberts from Alliance for Choice about what happens next. Róisín Ingle also talks to Anne O'Leary CEO of Vodafone Ireland and domestic abuse survivor and campaigner Emma Murphy about Bright Sky Ireland a groundbreaking app to support people in abusive relationships. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 11, 2019•46 min