Ladies, We Need To Talk

Celebrities and everyday women are shrinking before our eyes. So how do we have conversations about our bodies when they're the source of renewed scrutiny? Yumi Stynes sits down with Olympic gold medallist Libby Trickett, journalist Demi Lynch and psychologist Janet Lowndes to discuss why thinness is becoming the cultural norm again and how we can push back against this narrative. They unpack the...

Getting an ADHD diagnosis while going through perimenopause helped explain the quiet bubbling rage and feelings of inadequacy that Myf Warhust had been dealing with her whole life. Discovering she had ADHD mid-life has been life changing for Myf but like so many women, she questions why it took so long to be diagnosed in the first place. She's channelled those feelings into her new book, Middle Ra...

What's the key to a long-lasting, happy relationship? Grand gestures and date nights might cause a momentary flare, but successful couples know there's more to it than that. How do they fight, divide the load, and keep their intimacy hot when life gets busy and deeply unsexy? Yumi Stynes speaks to women about how they found love that's stable, healthy and fun. And clinical psychologist Ms Gemma Cr...

What does free speech mean if women can't afford to defend it? And what happens when the law meant to protect reputations is used to silence women speaking out about alleged sexual violence? Jennifer Robinson is one of the world's most recognisable human rights lawyers. She's represented actress Amber Heard, whose trial became the stuff of fierce public debate and trial by media. Now Jennifer's fi...

Imagine entering a space where your wildest sexual fantasies are on full display - minus the creepy dudes. Forget keys in a bowl and seedy nightclubs, women are flipping the stereotype, creating sexy playgrounds on their own terms. Yumi Stynes steps inside modern sex parties where consent is non-negotiable and women of all ages and backgrounds feel safe to indulge their deepest desires. This episo...

From making bubble gum by hand to tranquil depictions of motherhood, why is the tradwife fantasy so appealing and why can't we look away? During the pandemic, tradwives like Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman from Ballerina Farm dominated our algorithms. They baked perfectly scored sourdough loaves in spotless kitchens and made cereal for their toddlers from scratch. These women depict an enviable, ca...

An "I do" between husband and wife comes with many promises, not least of which is to be truthful.  So what do you do when your husband comes out as gay? For some women, it's a revelation that up-ends decades of marriage, family and identity. Can these relationships survive? And if they don't, how do you move beyond the hurt and build a new life? Yumi Stynes speaks to women who learned their husba...

Abortion is legal across Australia, but safe, affordable access is still not guaranteed for everyone. While three quarters of Australians support abortion access, finding a GP who will help is a postcode lottery. And the fallout from the 2022 reversal of Roe v Wade is being felt in Australia, with US-inspired protests and political tactics entering the fray. Yumi sits down with GP Dr Keersten Fitz...

Instead of dealing with the upheaval of divorce, some women are quietly quitting their role as wife. Physically, they're there, going through the motions, but emotionally they've checked out. There's no huge conflict, but there's also no urge to try to make things work. Yumi Stynes talks to women who have taken a step back from their marriages but aren't ready to officially split. They're staying...

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...

Having children is one of the most rewarding and meaningful things we can do. But what if you wish you'd never become a parent? For mothers especially, the taboo of admitting they regret their children can be incredibly lonely. Many carry their grief, loss of identity and exhaustion in silence. Yumi Stynes gets a rare window into the lives of people who love their children but admit that if they c...

There’s a special kind of fury reserved for the 'other woman.' She’s often depicted as a home wrecker and immoral, but is she misunderstood? Unlucky to fall for someone who’s already taken?    Yumi Stynes speaks with women whose hearts belong to married men and discovers that beneath the stereotypes are complicated love stories built on hope and promises in the face of deception.     Psychologist...

Have you ever fantasised about raising kids with your bestie? Well, some women are doing it for real. And these mum communes or ‘mummunes’ don’t look like your average share house.   These women are sharing a roof, chores, bills and the mental load of raising their kids. For some, it’s the antidote to a nuclear family structure that left them drained and resentful. For others, it’s a handy, albeit...

It’s truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in the modern world has endured at least one truly disastrous date. It is, regrettably, a rite of passage.  Author Alita Bryson has been on hundreds of them! One guy asked her if it was okay to marry your cousin, another trolled people online for fun while yet another literally drove off mid-date.  While her dating life was catastrophic, Alit...

At some point in life, we all lose someone we love. But losing a baby is an unimaginable heartbreak. Our children are not meant to die before us. In the wake of that loss, families are left reeling. Navigating shock, confusion, and overwhelming grief as they face a future without a much-loved child. Yumi Stynes meets two women who have experienced infant loss. They share how they moved through the...

One in three Australian women describe their births as traumatic. Long labours, health scares, emergency interventions, feeling ignored, and lasting physical and psychological injuries can turn what's meant to be one of life's biggest moments into something deeply distressing. Yumi Stynes hears from women still coming to terms with their birth experiences, sometimes years later, and finds out what...

For most mums, the day their kids leave feels like a victory. You might even be planning what you'll do with all that free time. No more mountains of laundry, arguments over dinner or acting as a free taxi service. But for many women, an empty nest isn't just freedom, it's loss. When motherhood has shaped so much of your daily life and identity, the silence can be unsettling as you move around a h...

Jessica Mauboy was just 16 when she burst onto our screens, barefoot in the red dirt of Alice Springs, belting out Whitney Houston at her Australian Idol audition. She may have finished runner-up, but it launched one of Australia's most enduring music careers including starring in The Sapphires and representing Australia at Eurovision in 2018.   Despite two decades in the spotlight, fame hasn't ch...

When we're dating someone new, the rush is electric. The pull towards sex can feel immediate, an almost magnetic urge to rip each other's clothes off. But as the years stretch on and the demands of life ramp up, sex becomes just one more activity on a chaotic checklist; competing with the demands of chores, kids and sleep. And when the urge does strike, it's intimacy vs. doom scrolling in bed, and...

Botox, vampire facials, bone smashing and now cadaver fat fillers: the beauty industry is expert in selling extreme (and painful) treatments in our endless pursuit of perfection and eternal youth. For years, Jess DeFino worked at the heart of this machine as an assistant editor for the Kardashian family. She saw firsthand how the goalposts of beauty are constantly shifting, making it out of reach,...

We live in a sexed-up world. From chiselled fictional teenagers in steamy high school dramas to Sabrina Carpenter’s innuendos, it feels like everyone’s doing it. But what happens when adulthood arrives and you're still a virgin?  Plenty of women haven’t had sex. Some are waiting for the right person, some are waiting for marriage, and some haven't had the opportunity.   Virginity has gone from bei...

Love bombing. Gaslighting. Coercive control. Narcissists can crash into your life on the charm offensive. They begin with intense affection, compliments and grand gestures. But behind that charm can be manipulation and intense criticism. In the worst cases, they control every aspect of their partner's life.  It’s disorienting to be with a narcissist, and often people with narcissistic traits have ...

For all her life, Chloe Hayden, star of Heartbreak High, has struggled to get doctors to take her health complaints seriously. And she’s not alone.   Autistic women have poorer physical and mental health than neurotypical people. From shorter life expectancy to higher rates of suicide, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse. In this episode Grace speaks to autistic women about being misund...

"It can be difficult…when your approach to socialising and relationships doesn't look like what other people might expect." There's a long-held stereotype that autistic people are not empathetic and aren't interested in relationships. The reality is that, like everyone, autistic women and girls want connection, they may just come to it in different ways. In this episode, Grace looks at how autism...

For decades autism was thought of as a "boy thing" and girls were overlooked by science. According to research, three boys are diagnosed with autism for every girl. While experts point to genetic differences, there are other reasons why girls often go undiagnosed, including their ability to mask their autistic traits, leading to what's referred to as the "female autism invisibility cloak". In this...