AmsterDames: An English Feminist Podcast in the Netherlands

Let’s be honest: how often do you throw away food without really thinking about it? Most of us do it more than we’d like to admit. In today’s episode, we’re talking about Taste Before You Waste, a local organization that tackles this problem by collecting surplus food and turning it into community dinners. We’ll hear how it started, what difference it makes, and why even small steps can help reduc...

When was the last time you used ChatGPT? It surely wasn't too long ago, right? Artificial intelligence has pushed its way into our lives so fast during the past few years and now most of us make use of it to make our professional life easier, for example. Or we let it plan our itinerary for our next city trip. But what, if we could also use AI for emotional support, as a friend who listens or...

In this episode, we’re diving into Sexhibition—a bold andboundary-shifting art exhibition traveling across the Netherlands. Each artwork is created with, not about, sex workers. No voyeurism. No exploitation. Just real stories, real people who love their job, real agency, and real art. Mistress Eve is one of the initiators of the project, a musefor a piece of art, a sex worker and an activist. And...

When was the last time you did something for the first time? When was the last time that you were really curious about something? Often we get so hung up in our own life reality, our bubble and our ways that we forget that breaking out of routines can be – quite literally – eye-opening. How do other people work? How do they live their lives? What choices did they make in the past and who did they...

Gender equality is an ongoing struggle, and there is still a long way to go to achieve full equality of rights and opportunities between men and women. In the meantime, a new movement against gender equality is gaining traction in Europe, weakening democracies. This is a quote from the EU-funded project Push*Back*Lash that wants to develop sustainable solutions, bringing together gender activists,...

Growing up in a loving, caring and nurturing environment,created by our own family and our own parents, that should be the default for every child. But sometimes, this is just not possible, for various reasons. This is usually, when a government office for youth welfare and child protection interferes and when the foster system comes into play. Aarathy Balasingam has lived with a foster family for...

The city of Amsterdam welcomes more than 10 million touristsevery year, offering hop on hop off busses, boat trips and sightseeing tours. Those walking tours focus on the red light district, food, street art, jewish life etc etc etc. And how many of them focus on women? Yeah, not as many. But Martine Bontjes wanted to change that and today she is going to tell us moreabout her Women of Amsterdam....

Today is the 8th of March, international women’s day and we’re diving into a conversation that couldn’t be more important—consent. Joining me is Claudia Dictus, founder of Our Bodies OurVoice, an organization dedicated to sexual violence prevention and education. We’ll explore what consent really means, how we can create a culture of respect and empowerment, and why open conversations about bounda...

Losing a beloved one is probably one of the worst things that can happen to all of us. Having to deal with death in our close proximity is a fear that probably unites all of us. And in such a moment that we all rather like to keep away from us, as far as possible, Liza Berenfeld managed to find beauty. In death, she has found her calling. Liza Berenfeld is a death doula and today, she is going to...

Have you ever heard of something called hypersensitivity, high sensitivity and an HSP? It refers to a certain way how the brain works and how people experience the world, but - as there is still not a lot of knowledge about it - many HSPs probably don't even know that they have it. Esther Bergsma - and myself as well - are HSP. Highly sensitive people. And we also didn't know it for the la...

How often have you used your smartphone or any other mobile device today already? Minutes, hours? Do you even know? When was the last time you were completely offline and disconnected from the digital world? Exactly … to be honest, I cannot remember either. So, maybe it is time to take a break? This is exactly what the offline club wants to achieve. Silvia Mota is a host of the offline club events...

The world of martial arts is not very welcoming for women. It can be very intimidating to go to a place full of men who punch each other. This is why, girls or women often shy away from this category of sports. Which is very unfortunate, because boxing, kickboxing or any kind of martial art can be fun, empowering and a great workout for your body and mind. Safe spaces for women to practice martial...

In this podcast, we talk a lot about gender equality, empowerment and gender norms. But of course, we cannot look at feminism without also looking at masculinity. Or rather toxic masculinity, which affects all of us, regardless of our gender. And to dismantle harmful gender norms, it is also crucial to bring men on bord with us. Which is why, today, we also have a man as a guest on this podcast. E...

Remember what it was like for you when you came to the Netherlands? When you had to get settled and needed to find a job? For some of us it is rather easy, for others it is really hard. For migrants who are not familiar with the Dutch or any European labour market there are many challenges to face. Often they apply and apply but only receive rejections without knowing the reason. Shea Harty is the...

Today's episode is going to touch on a topic that affects us all at some point in our lives – grief and loss. But even though it is omnipresent in all of our lives, we rarely talk about it. Death is something that scares us, that we rather do not talk about. My guest for today Carin Hafkamp, has chosen to become a grief and loss coach to guide and support individuals through this challenging p...

The global medical world produces an enormous amount of waste every day. Mostly by using disposable equipment. But what if there was another way? What if there was a chance to make medical equipment reusable? Dieuwertje Drexhage is one of the founders of Layco Medical Devices and it is her goal to make the medical world more sustainable. And that could even have an impact on women specifically – n...

Are you a fan of Spanish and Latin American films? Do you love storytelling and exciting visuals? Bienvenidos and welcome to the 10th Amsterdam Spanish Film Festival. For a decade, the film festival has focused on storytelling, insights into the culture of Spain and Latin american countries as well as voices multiplying voices we often do not hear loud enough. Among others, the voices of women. Bl...

In a conflict, in a war or in a crisis it is oftentimes those who are innocent who suffer the most. But the ones that are the most innocent are often overlooked and forgotten. Wars, conflicts and natural disasters affect animals as much as they affect human beings. But they have even less of a chance to fend for themselves or verbalize their pain or demand their needs to be catered to. Luckily, th...

Today, we're diving into the magic of the HER Film Festival Amsterdam – an event that amplifies the voices and visions of women filmmakers and highlights films about women and their so far often untold, unique stories. It's more than just a film festival; it's a celebration of creativity, resilience, and the power of women worldwide. Sabine Brusse from Simavi organizes the event and sh...

There is the gender pay gap. The gender pension gap. The gender funding gap. The gender health gap. The gender investment gap. The gender wealth gap. And there is also a gender orgasm gap. During heterosexual sexual encounters, women have far fewer orgasms than men. And often we are being told that this is just the way it is and that some women simply cannot have an orgasm. The world is acting lik...

When it comes to money and finance, women often end up with the short end of the stick. Or they are short-changed, if you will. Because women are facing financial obstacles that men are not. The gender pay gap is just one example of that. Reason enough for women to start taking care of their finances and to work towards financial independence. Jonell van der Wal is a money mindset coach and host o...

We all live in the same world, but at the same time we don’t. We might call a certain place or a certain community our home, but at the same time, it can be an entire different universe from the life other people are living. Some communities, religious or not, actively isolate their members. Sometimes it is the civil society that is responsible for the exclusion of an individual or a certain group...

Every eight days. Every eight days, a woman in the Netherlands is killed by her partner or her ex-partner. Every eight days, in this country, there is a femicide. And until the Netherlands manage to bring structural change on the way. It is going to continue to happen. Every eight days.   Tessel ten Zweege is an activist and author of several books about gender-based violence and femicide in the N...

They are evil, they are ugly and we should all be afraid of them. We have learned that from fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel.  But what if witches were never the bad ones? What if they were in fact the victims of the story? Jente Posthuma and Bregje Hofstede have been working on the topic of witches and witch trials for a while now and they know the witch hunts are by no means only a thing of th...

Do you want to become a freelancer in the Netherlands? But you feel overwhelmed by the paperwork of the registration, you have no idea of how to do your tax report as a Dutch freelancer, you don’t know where to start and you don’t know what to do and how? And, what is life as a freelancer like? How many hours will you work and how much money will you make? Dana Marin, founder of the multimedia web...