Clementine Ford's Big Sister Hotline

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains discussion of men’s violence against women, sexual assault, rape, historical allegations, and reference to suicide I’m joined this week by one of my friends and Hotline alum, the marvellous Karen Pickering! Karen is a feminist organiser, an author, host of the feminist salon Churchez La Femme and all round excellent human. We had a frank and candid chat in my ki...

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains discussion of men’s violence against women, domestic abuse, domestic homicide and men’s behavioural change In this week’s episode, my wonderful friend Ada Conroy welcomed me into her kitchen to discuss men’s behavioural change, domestic abuse, working in the family violence sector and how our own shame can be confronted to create meaningful change and accountabi...

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains discussion of fatphobia, eating disorders and disordered eating, sexual experiences involving men’s desires that may be triggering for some people Hurrah! This week’s episode features the amazing Cara MacB, creator of the brilliant “OBCC Helpline”. As Nanny MacB, she uses TikTok and Instagram to call out fatphobia in an hysterically funny way. We have an incredi...

This week, I’m proud to welcome to the Hotline an incredible educator, anti-racism activist, mother and friend KIRSTY RUTHERFORD! Kirsty is a passionate anti racism activist who educates people daily on Instagram, and she joined me to talk about all these things.  From little sisters, we answered questions about how to deal with the mad that you feel and channel it into something healing, and...

APRIL HELENE HORTON aka THE BODZILLA returns to the hotline for her second appearance! April has recently become the face of Curvy Swimwear, the first plus size bikini model to feature on a billboard in Australia. What a win! She joined me to talk about what young April would think of this, finding joy in life and how to drown out the haters.  From little sisters, we answered questions about...

This week, I'm joined by KOA BECK, author of the incredible new book, "White Feminism". The book is a blistering examination of how white feminism aligns with capitalism, individual ambition and, ultimately, patriarchy in order to secure some version of liberation for the minority while ignoring the masses of women whose labour and subjugation is required to maintain those systems. I found myself...

Welcome to the very first episode of the hotline’s SECOND SEASON! My guest this week is the extraordinary Laura Bates. She’s a writer, activist and educator based in the UK, and her latest book “Men Who Hate Women” is a blistering take on misogyny and how it proliferates in men’s groups both online and off. She joined me for a very special episode (no listener questions on this one I’m sorry - the...

Replaying this amazing episode from season 1, with human right lawyer and all round excellent person, SAYOMI ARIYAWANSA! We talk about Sayomi's work, migrant women and colonialism and answer questions from little sisters. Season 2 of Big Sister Hotline back on Jan 30! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/clementineford-bigsisterhotline . Follow Clem on Instagram & Facebook Subscribe to...

In this very special episode of the BSH, I'm joined by the incredible IEOMA OLUO. Ijeoma is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, "So You Want To Talk About Race?" In her latest book, "Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Power", Ijeoma explores white male medicority, whiteness as a pyramid scheme and white masculinity in general. This is a fasinating conversation with an expe...

I'm joined this week in a special DOUBLE HEADER with one of my best friends, LOU SANZ. Lou is a filmmaker, screenwriter, creator and working mother living in Melbourne. In this episode, we talk creativity, mothering, the slow road to career success and how to be patient. . From little sisters, we answer questions about the healthy sytem and patriarchy, falling in love with your friends, and drilli...

This week’s episode features the sensational DANI ADRIANA, a noted body positivity and fat liberation activist living in far North Queensland. Dani has toured workshops around the world speaking about mental health and fat liberation, and she joined me for a wonderfully insightful conversation about bodies, size inclusivity and the evolution of one’s own activism. I had so many lightbulb moments d...

I was so pleased to welcome someone I admire enormously and am also proud to call friend onto the Hotline this week. NEVO ZISIN is a non-binary, Jewish queer writer who has authored two books (Finding Nevo and the forthcoming The Pronoun Lowdown). They facilitate educational workshops educating workplaces and organisations about gender and trans inclusivity, and we talked at length about how cis p...

This week, I’m joined by my good friend JILL STARK to talk about anxiety, lockdown and some of the tools we can use to ground us when we’re feeling fizzy brained. Jill’s first book, “High Sobriety” was about the year she spent sober. She has since become sober again, and we talk about what this means for a person’s mental health and some of the emotional challenges that come with committing to and...

I had an excellent conversation this week with ALEXANDRA COLLIER, a writer, theatre maker and sole mother by choice. Ally is one of the growing number of women choosing to become sole mothers through sperm donorship. She joined me to talk about motherhood, choices, the narratives we set for our own lives and the beauty we find in them, and why we need to separate maternal desires from our romantic...

Hello listeners! So, I was TWO HOURS into the edit on this week's planned episode with Alexandra Collier and Audition crashed and swallowed everything. This happens so frequently that I don't know why I continue bothering. I couldn't take it anymore, so I decided TO STOP TRYING. I am now surrendering all my editing over to a professional who will hopefully also make it sound way better than I ever...

This week’s guest is no stranger to the limelight. YVIE JONES became a household name when she joined the cast of Gogglebox. She went on to feature in “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!”, ultimately placing second. She’s the co-host of feminist podcast “Chickstory”, which focuses on women forgotten throughout history. In this week’s episode, Yvie and Clementine talk about being diagnosed with m...

I’m so excited to introduce you to this week’s guest! SAYOMI ARIYAWANSA is a human rights lawyer and researcher looking at the circumstances of migrant workers in Australia. In this incredibly in depth chat, we talk about racism, migration, labour and classism and its particular impact on low paid migrant women workers.  We speak to little sisters about how to extricate yourself from a relati...

Hello everyone! Apologies for no episode last week - I took a much needed break. But we're back this week with the very excellent ALYSSA HO, who you may know from calling out beauty influencers online over their cultural appropriation via the "fox eye trend". Alyssa and I talk about this and much more in this illuminating episode, and it's a must listen for anyone who cares about how to be a good...

How do we know we're doing it right? This is the question that plagues so many of us, particularly with the excessive influence of social media, the wellness industry, fashion and how we navigate interpersonal relationships in an increasingly plugged in world. These topics and more are all explored in great detail in PANDORA SYKES' debut book, "How Do We Know We're It Right? Essays on Modern Life"...

NOTE: Please note this episode contains discussion of controlled eating and significant weight loss in adolescenceI was joined this week by JAN FRAN, who's a legendary journalist, presenter and host of the popular The Frant. We had an excellent conversation about how women express control under the patriarchy and a much more practical conversation about how someone might go about getting into jour...

If you're not following @thirtysomethingsingle on instagram, do yourselves a flavour and get on it. She is hilarious, insightful and brilliant, and she models excellent boundary setting in the dating world and via the apps. Kate posts a lot about self worth, decoding men's dating profiles and the ways they speak to women (particularly when they are cruel) and how fatphobia is rampant in the dating...

Australian listeners will all be familiar with Yassmin Abdel-Magied. A writer, TV presenter, podcast host, speaker and former race-car chassis designer (I mean, WOW), Yassmin also became a lightening rod for Australian racism, Islamophobia and misogyny when she posted a simple anti-war statement on her Facebook page in 2017. The reaction was swift and astonishing. She was excoriated across every s...

*****Part two of the Hotline's episode with AILEEN QUINN comes with a very big content warning for domestic abuse, sexual coercion and manipulation.**** The Hotline received a question submission from a woman whose husband is behaving in a coercive manner and using manipulative tactics to try to force her into sexual engagement with him. I double checked with the Little Sister that she was comfort...

Hello friends and sisters! This week's episode is all about the hellscape that is online dating, and joining me to navigate it is guest big sister Aileen Quinn, aka the genius behind the instagram account Tinder Translators (@tindertranslators, follow her and do yourselves a flavour). We talk about the trash that is online dating and specifically the trash cis-het men get away with on dating apps....

Have you ever been cast in a particular role in your family? Are you the black sheep or the troublemaker, the wild child or the attention seeker? Do you seek your parents' approval, even though they continue to hurt you? Well, this episode is for you! But it's also for any one who has ever had a family, or wants to have a family because the truth is we ALL write narratives for ourselves and other...