The Women's Podcast

Fifty-year-old mother of two and stylist Jan Brierton became an accidental poet during the pandemic and has since become a regular on The Women’s Podcast. Her bestselling collections, What Day Is It? and Everybody is a Poem, struck a chord with readers, while a recent appearance on The Tommy Tiernan Show introduced her to an even wider audience. Fresh from a UK tour with Henry Normal, Brierton joi...

While the war in the Middle East dominates the daily headlines - from peace talks to the price of oil - far less attention is given to the lived experiences of ordinary Iranians. These are the people who are living among the conflict and under the rule of a heavy-handed Islamic regime.  It is the less-heard voices and experiences that Iranian activists, Mahya Ostovar and Nasim Soleimanian wan...

This May, 13 members of the Sea of Change choir will spend five days walking a Camino in Portugal. The choir, which is based in Dublin, is made up of cancer survivors and supporters. Formed in 2018, they have performed at venues across the country, at Electric Picnic, and have even featured on Britain’s Got Talent. Ahead of their departure early next month, two choir members, Terry Kinane and Miri...

This month the book club is reading A Beautiful Loan by Mary Costello, as chosen by bookclubber Niamh Towey. The novel follows Anna Hughes, who , from the vantage of middle age, examines her life and the choices she made along the way. It's a story about obsessive love, memory, and self-discovery.  The next book club pick is London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. The group will be discussing...

Bestselling author and podcaster Caroline Foran is back with her fourth book, Everything I Wish I’d Known about Anxiety. The book is for anyone struggling with anxiety who is unsure how or where to begin the healing process. Based on her own experience of overcoming debilitating anxiety, it blends storytelling with practical advice and offers a step-by-step roadmap to help quiet anxious thoughts a...

Author Louise O’Neill is back with her sixth novel, Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone? It’s a gripping page‑turner about the dark side of the entertainment industry, focusing on child star twins Madeline and Chelsea, who grow up in the spotlight under the tight grip of their controlling mother, Erin. In today’s episode, O’Neill joins Róisín Ingle to discuss toxic celebrity culture, the treatment...

What is it like learning to drive in your 50s? In today’s episode, we hear from journalist June Shannon who passed her driving test at the age of 54. For years, Shannon avoided driving due to anxiety, having failed a driving test in her late 20s. Living in Dublin and close to public transport, also meant she didn’t need to use a car. However, a move to Limerick a few years ago - where a car became...

In 2024, the mass‑rape trial of Dominique Pelicot - who was tried alongside 50 other French men - shocked the world. The father of three was found guilty of drugging and raping his wife, Gisèle, over a ten‑year period, and of inviting other men he met online to rape and abuse her as well. After a 16‑week trial, Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison. It was a case so shocking that one would b...

For journalists Tanya Sweeney and Jen Bray, 2026 has been a very exciting year so far. In January, Sweeney published her debut novel, Esther is Now Following You, while Bray published her debut crime thriller, The Lies Between Us in February. Since then it’s been a whirlwind of publicity for the pair, who are still working as busy journalists in two separate Irish newspapers.. In today’s episode,...

In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by the brilliant Joanne McNally. The comedian and podcaster dropped by the studio to talk about her newly announced date at Dublin’s 3Arena and how she’s made history as the first ever Irish female comedian to headline two shows at the venue. In this hilarious and wide-ranging conversation, McNally also talks about living with fame, why she’s taken a...

This Sunday 8th March is International Women’s Day and to mark the occasion, The Women’s Podcast hosted a live podcast recording at Chapters Bookstore in Dublin this week. On the night, Róisín Ingle was joined by DCU Professor Debbie Ging, human rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher and 5th year student Orla Hanratty to discuss how bias against women and girls has been built into the technologies sh...

This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing Heart the Lover by American author Lily King.  The story follows ‘Jordan’, a bright, ambitious college student who finds herself caught up in a complicated love triangle, with best friends and fellow students Sam and Yash.  Decades later, Jordan is living the life she dr...

This week, the grand final of the Irish Times Debate will take place in Dublin, where teams will debate the motion: This house believes the United Nations has had its day. The debating competition was founded in 1960 and counts many distinguished alumni among the ranks of its participants and winners, including comedian Dara O’Briain and the late broadcaster Marian Finucane. In today’s episode, Ró...

When America’s Next Top Model arrived on our screens in 2003, it was an instant hit with viewers around the world. The reality TV competition, hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, saw young aspiring models compete for the chance to win a lucrative modelling contract. Although the show ended almost a decade ago, it’s back on our screens in Netflix’s new documentary series, Inside America’s Next Top Mod...

In today’s episode, we’re covering a topic that isn’t often spoken about, but is estimated to affect around one in four families: family estrangement. It’s a subject that writer and Irish Times contributor Laura Kennedy wrote about recently in her Substack, detailing the complicated grief she experienced following the death of her father late last year - a man she hadn’t seen in over a decade. In...

Last month, Action Aid Ireland published a new report highlighting the challenges that lone migrant parents, mainly women, experience when they leave state accommodation. Many face discrimination, unaffordable rents and inadequate supports, leaving them effectively trapped between direct provision and homelessness. In today’s episode, Deborah Oniah and Owodunni Mustapha (Ola) - two Nigerian women...

This Sunday 1st February is St Brigid’s Day and to celebrate the occasion we’re learning all about Brigid - the woman, the myth, the legend - from author and writer Kim Curran.  Curran has just published her new book Brigid - a reimagining of Ireland’s most beloved saint - in which she details the life of Brigid, the miracles she made and the women she saved. It’s the story of a trailblazer w...

This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing Flesh by David Szalay.  The book follows the life of István - an emotionally detached Hungarian man - as he moves from adolescence into adulthood. As the years pass, István moves from the army to the circles of London’s elite. His competing impulses for love, intimacy, status...

Although Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs may seem like a relatively new phenomenon, their origins actually stretch back to the mid 1980s. Back then, scientists were searching for an alternative treatment for diabetes, one that could replace insulin. Few could have imagined that this research would go on to reshape the treatment of obesity and later evolve into one of the best-selling drugs in...

In late December, merchants and shopkeepers in Iran took to the streets to protest against the dire economic situation in the country. Since then, thousands more Iranians have joined the protests, snowballing it into a much bigger movement which is now calling for the end of the Islamic regime. The authorities have responded to the demonstrations with gunfire, tear gas and thousands of arrests. Ac...

Over the past thirty years in Ireland, the lives of women have changed unrecognisably. Unparalleled advances in legislation have allowed for divorce, abortion and marriage equality. The economy has gone from boom to bust and to boom again, with more women entering the workplace. But for all the progress, there is still an underrepresentation of women in politics and positions of power, and there’s...

Prima Facie, the award-winning one-woman play written by Australian playwright Suzie Miller, is coming to the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin later this month. It follows the story of Tessa Ensler, a highly successful criminal defence lawyer who specialises in sexual assault cases. When Ensler (played by Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer) is sexually assaulted by a colleague, she suddenly finds herself on the ot...

2025 was the year Ireland elected its third female President, but only three women were appointed Ministers in the new Cabinet. Down one on the previous government.  It was the year the hit Netflix show Adolescence had everyone talking about the dangers of the 'manosphere' and toxic masculinity and Australia introduced the world’s first social media ban for children.  The year also saw t...

If you’re looking for a gift for the book lover in your life, The Women’s Podcast Book Club has you covered. In today’s episode Niamh Towey, Bernice Harrison, Róisín Ingle and Ann Ingle are discussing what books they’ll be giving as gifts this Christmas and the ones they’d like to receive.  Their recommendations include a biography for art lovers, a self-help book about setting “healthy bound...

This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing Thirst Trap, the debut novel from Belfast writer Gráinne O’Hare.  The book tells the story of Harley, Róise, and Maggie, three friends in their late twenties who are living together in a run-down house in Belfast, navigating all that life can throw at them - tricky relationsh...