'The C Word with Catharine Redden'

What do hummus, gumbo, German bread, Jewish food, autism, Down syndrome, a South Australian lamb roast and one very versatile carrot have in common? Stephanie Pierce. Stephanie is a disability specialist, cookbook author and culinary educator whose work focuses on making cooking more accessible, more inclusive and a lot less intimidating. We talk about neurodivergence in the kitchen, confidence, t...

At 16, Adriana Obando shattered her femur.  Thirty-three years, 12 major surgeries and countless procedures later, she stopped chasing “the fix.” We talk about chronic pain, failed knee replacements, perfectionism, perimenopause, modified bikes, and why acceptance isn’t giving up. It’s choosing where your energy goes when the striving starts taking energy away from the living. Also featuring: one...

This episode is dedicated to everyone who grew up in a household impacted by alcohol. ❤️ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I thought you had to hit rock bottom before you were allowed to get sober. Turns out, you don’t. For years, I thought I couldn’t possibly have a problem with alcohol because I wasn’t drinking every day. I hadn’t lost my job. I hadn’t been arrested. I hadn’t lost my marriage because of alcohol...

Accessibility Isn’t a Favour: Ellie Rowlands on Ableism in Everyday Life When we talk about disability, we often focus on the big moments: discrimination cases, inspirational stories, fundraising campaigns, or medical diagnoses. But what if inequality lives somewhere much quieter? In this episode of The C-Word, Catharine sits down with disability advocate, public speaker, and creative business own...

A friend said something to me over lunch recently that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about: “When you call a cunt a cunt, it doesn’t make you a good person.” That conversation sent me back to a summer afternoon at a local poetry reading, where I overheard two conversations that have stayed with me ever since. One was a man explaining how much easier women have it these days. The other was a...

What starts as a conversation about food quickly becomes a conversation about the invisible work women carry every day. In this episode of The C-Word , I talk with Namita Pandey, founder of Aurum Celebrations, about the mental load hiding in ordinary things: groceries, lunchboxes, leftovers, family calendars, clean fridges, changing diets, and the question women are somehow always expected to answ...

My mental health has been rough lately. In this episode, I talk openly about panic attacks, suicidal ideation, medication changes, and what it feels like when hope slowly starts to return after a difficult few weeks. I also tell the story of an interaction with a man I’m calling Captain JAQ (Just Asking Questions). A podcaster who invited me onto his show, challenged my boundaries, and accidentall...

“Health” research tells us that 60 to 70% of people in the Western world are overweight or obese. And they never say that like it’s a good thing. If you, like me, are one of the many people living in a body considered fat, and you’ve ever been to your GP, primary care provider, or doctor for pretty much anything, only to be told to lose weight because apparently that’s a cure-all (spoiler alert: i...

A solo episode about Pride Round, psychological safety, queer inclusion, AFL culture, masculinity, and the difference between performative allyship and genuine cultural change in Australian Rules Football.  Catharine explores the AFL, AFLW, homophobia in sport, rainbow branding, and why visibility without safety is not enough. 🎙️👀 What worked? What dragged? What made you mutter “Jesus Christ, Cat...

This week, Lou Nicholson joins me on “The C-Word with Catharine Redden”. Lou is the newly elected independent member for Finniss in South Australia, the first woman ever elected to the seat, and in this conversation we talk about politics, public life, community, netball, democracy, aging, country towns, cappuccinos, and what people are quietly carrying right now. Lou first contested the seat in 2...

The Maths of Sex (Part 2) with Associate Professor Simon Graham Part 2 of Catharine’s conversation with Associate Professor Simon Graham about sexual health, STI testing, condoms, contraception, harm reduction, public health, relationships, and why shame is often terrible health policy. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, go back and start there first. In this episode, Simon and Catharine discu...

Part 1 of a two-part conversation with Associate Professor Simon Graham about sexual health, stigma, statistics, testing, HPV, bacterial vaginosis, public health, relationships, and the gloriously awkward reality of being a human with a body. This isn’t a morality lecture wrapped in a lab coat. It’s an honest, funny, occasionally chaotic conversation about how sexual health actually works in real...

In this slightly feverish, slightly feral episode, Catharine continues on from her commentary about David King publicly calling women’s armpit hair “repulsive,” and unpacks the much bigger question underneath it: Why are women expected to remain visually pleasing to strangers in the first place? Catharine talks about: body commentary at family functions, fat-shaming disguised as “health,” the enti...

Tiny unionised dinosaur chooks. Humid shoulder pelts at Pilates. AFL commentary. Pre-peeled grapes. This episode begins as a fruedian slip, turned into a feminist ranch fantasy and ends as a rant about women’s bodies, beauty standards, sport media, and why some jokes no longer land the way they used to. Also: Kane Cornes says beer is the most overrated thing in the world, and honestly, I love that...

A three-year-old in a fairy skirt, gumboots, dragon tail and Bob the Builder helmet thinks she’s beautiful. This episode is about what happens before the world talks her out of it. 🎙️👀 What worked? What dragged? What made you mutter “Jesus Christ, Catharine”? Tell me. Content Note ~ This podcast gets into bodies, panic attacks, trauma, sexism, mental health, and the occasional emotional sinkhole....

We say “panic attack” all the time. This is what one actually sounds like. Includes a real-time recording of a panic attack. Content note: discussion of suicidal thoughts. Please take care. Support links are in the show notes. 🎙️👀 What worked? What dragged? What made you mutter “Jesus Christ, Catharine”? Tell me. Content Note ~ This podcast gets into bodies, panic attacks, trauma, sexism, mental...

On Thursday night at the MCG, during a game between Carlton and Collingwood, some things that happened on the field that did not look like football. This episode is about those moments. It is not about analysing the reasons or causes of a player’s behaviour.  It is about what was done, and more importantly, what was not done, to assist somebody in obvious distress in their workplace. I refer to El...

A conversation with my mum, Margaret Redden, about what it was like to grow up, work, and have children as a woman in South Australia in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and the kinds of inequality women were simply expected to accept. Show Notes Books mentioned: Storm Boy by Colin Thiele Other books by Colin Thiele: Blue Fin, The Fire in the Stone, February Dragon Film: Storm Boy (film adaptation) Topics...

Go for a walk. Look at what’s named. Then tell me you don’t see it. 🎙️👀 What worked? What dragged? What made you mutter “Jesus Christ, Catharine”? Tell me. Content Note ~ This podcast gets into bodies, panic attacks, trauma, sexism, mental health, and the occasional emotional sinkhole. Please look after yourself only listen when you feel safe to engage with potentially triggering material.  Also,...

A raw conversation about suicidal thoughts, Lifeline, and what it feels like at a granular level to not be okay.  ~~~ In this episode I have a chat with Julia Ridout. (Find out more about Julia here: https://www.instagram.com/chiefencouragementofficeau )  She’s worked at Deloitte, led major projects, and volunteered as a Lifeline counsellor. She now runs her own business as a Chief Encouragement O...

Feminism is easy… until it’s your family. This one’s about the dinner table. The comments that don’t sit right. And the moments where you stay quiet. Recorded in my car by the beach,        with seagulls who are frankly furious about the lack of chips. 🎙️👀 What worked? What dragged? What made you mutter “Jesus Christ, Catharine”? Tell me. Content Note ~ This podcast gets into bodies, panic attack...

Last year, I worked on an egg farm. 7am starts. No lunch break. One 15-minute smoko. Lifting a tonne of eggs a day. Collecting dead birds. Driving half an hour each way. And I was being paid less than the minimum wage. Not by accident. Not cash-in-hand. Legally. In this episode, I walk through what it’s actually like to work under the pastoral award in Australia, where minimum wage isn’t always mi...

What is period underwear? What is Prozac? This episode started as a Q&A. It didn’t stay that way. From black “cheek to kidney” netball undies… to the very real experience of taking antidepressants… 🎙️👀 What worked? What dragged? What made you mutter “Jesus Christ, Catharine”? Tell me. Content Note ~ This podcast gets into bodies, panic attacks, trauma, sexism, mental health, and the occasiona...

I was just ordering a coffee. ( Decaf latte, two shots, two sugars, normal milk )  Instead, I found myself in an unsafe conversation about women, worth, and who deserves what. This episode is a real-life moment. No theory. No filters. Just how sexism actually shows up in the wild. Welcome to Notes From the Field. 🎙️👀 What worked? What dragged? What made you mutter “Jesus Christ, Catharine”? Tell...

When I was a kid, I used to sit on the bonnet of an HR Holden and watch my dad play country footy. I thought I understood the game. But years later I realised something strange: I had only ever been watching half of it. In this episode of The C-Word, I look at what happens when women step into sporting spaces that were never originally built for them. From ill-fitting guernseys and dodgy change ro...