The Women's Podcast

On today’s episode, Róisín Ingle speaks to American crime writer Karin Slaughter from her home in Atlanta, Georgia. Slaughter has just released her 20th novel, The Silent Wife, which follows the investigation into a brutal attack on a young woman. In this conversation, the author paints a picture of lockdown life with her two and a half cats and takes a look at the US response to coronavirus. They...

Activist, writer, addiction specialist and senator Lynn Ruane was the brilliant guest for our seventh Big Night In hosted by Róisín Ingle. An audience of over 150 joined us on Zoom to watch this force of nature speak about some of the lighter moments from inside the Seanad, her learnings from lockdown and why The Real Housewives of New York has become her new obsession. Hosted on Acast. See acast....

No pandemic is gender-neutral and neither is Covid-19, which is negatively affecting the lives of women and girls. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is the Executive Director of UN Women and she spoke to Roisin Ingle from lockdown in South Africa about the three areas where women and girls are particularly at risk in the current crisis: Domestic violence, frontline work - the majority of workers are women -...

During the pandemic, there has been increased pressure placed on one parent families, from shopping struggles and homeschooling demands to dealing with feelings of loneliness and isolation. In today’s episode, we hear from Clare O’Leary, a single parent living in Wexford with her 5 year old son Peter. Clare has just completed the first year of a psychology degree at Waterford IT and spoke to Róisi...

Where are you going on your holliers? That's the question we are asking on this episode with travel writer Joan Scales who has been uncovering deals up and down the country from castles to hotels, from campsites to cottages. Whether you are the adventurous type or fancy a bit of luxury, there is an Irish holiday for you so we wanted to help you with all the options that are available. In pandemic...

Born in Ireland, to Breton parents, Olwen Fouéré is a writer, producer and theatre maker. A reviewer once said of her that if she sat on a stage doing nothing it would still be completely compelling. Fouéré makes theatre that people find disturbing or unsettling and much of her extensive body of work is provocative, the kind of art that stays with you or even might change you a bit. Since the 1970...

Some listeners may remember Cindy Gallop from 2009 when she did a hugely popular Ted Talk in which she shared her experience of how hardcore pornography had distorted the way a generation of young men thinks about sex - and now she's fighting back. This was the genesis of her social sex company Make Love Not Porn, a user-generated video-sharing platform where people can submit videos of themselves...

It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was only March when Morning Ireland presenter and best-selling author Rachael English came in to the Irish Times studio talk to us about her fifth novel The Paper Bracelet. The gripping story centres around a fictional Mother and Baby home in the West of Ireland and the paper bracelets that were used to identify the babies born there who were then sent away for...

It was not on the agenda at her career guidance meetings at school, but somehow in Lockdown 17-year-old schoolgirl Hannah McSorley has ended up as a "Tik Tok Tadpole Influencer". The tens of thousands of tadpoles in her garden have earned more than half a million followers on the platform and a US Influencer agent has come calling, so it looks like tadpoles are going to be this teenager's lucrativ...

Our fifth Big Night In happened on Zoom in front of an audience of 250 on Saturday June 6th with author, playwright and Irish Times columnist Hilary Fannin. She spoke about her debut novel The Weight of Love, her early childhood memoir Hopscotch and about life in lockdown with her sons, partner and long suffering cat. Fannin also reflected on her decision to become a college student - doing a mast...

The year 2020 will not just be remembered for the pandemic. It will also be remembered for George Floyd and his final words 'I can't breathe' as he lay dying, the knee of a Minnesota police officer on his neck. The incomprehensible killing of Floyd, a father of two, shone a light yet again on the pervasive racism experienced by the black community all over the world. The protests in America saw pe...

The sex in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel Normal People became a huge national talking point. It was praised for its authenticity and complained about on Liveline for very different reasons. In this episode Ita O'Brien, intimacy coordinator, talks to Roisin Ingle about why her job choreographing the sex scenes between Marianne and Connell was akin to the role of a choreographer brought...

We were joined by almost 300 listeners, readers and Irish Times subscribers last Saturday night for our fourth Big Night In on Zoom. This one was with acclaimed singer and musician Lisa Hannigan. It was a magical night of conversation between podcast host Roisin Ingle and Hannigan who shared her thoughts on creativity in a pandemic and life in lockdown with her 14 month old child. This episode inc...

It's two years since 64.66 per cent of us voted to Repeal the 8th Amendment. Roisin Ingle reads her column looking back on that important day. Also on this episode, we hear from the author of a brilliant debut novel Exciting Times. Naoise Dolan spoke about her writing life and launching a book in Lockdown. And finally, Geraldine Quigley is a writer from a working class background who was helped by...

Jane Casey is one of the most successful crime writers of recent times, blazing a trail in a genre that has been dominated recently by Irish women such as Liz Nugent and Tana French. Originally from Ireland she is based in London and married to a criminal barrister, which comes in handy for gruesome plotlines. Her latest novel starring her kickass detective Maeve Kerrigan is called The Cutting Pla...

There's something in the air. A tiny bit of longed for freedom. The timeline for the gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions has been released and we want to celebrate. Over the past few weeks and months we've been collecting stories from our guests and from listeners. We asked them one simple question: what are you most looking forward to when lockdown is lifted? The answers were funny, warm and...

Welcome to our 400th episode! We never imagined when we started the podcast back in September 2015 that we'd still be here 400 episodes later telling women's stories and delving into the issues that are important to us. Over those nearly five years we've had many well known guests such as Margaret Atwood, Samantha Power, Marian Keyes and Caitlin Moran. In today's special ep we are joined by actor,...

In this episode, Róisín Ingle was joined by MEP and former Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald. In a recent article for The Irish Times, Fitzgerald wrote about the impact this pandemic is having on women and the need to document their stories for future generations. “Women are so rarely written about in these global events, much less so when their work is behind the scenes.” In this conversation, they ref...

In this episode, comedians Alison Spittle and Joanne McNally join Róisín Ingle to discuss the highs and lows of the London lockdown life. From living with housemates who refuse to socially distance, yearning for life back at home and waiting for the tsunami of single guys from all the lockdown divorces, this conversation with two of Ireland’s funniest comedians will hopefully bring a bit of joy to...

In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by journalist Jenn Gannon and author Emer McLysaght for a discussion about Normal People, the Irish TV show that has everyone talking. It’s the small screen adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best selling novel, which was released just eighteen months ago. Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie McDonald directed the new series from Element Pictures, which was filmed last...

In today's episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by three of Ireland’s newest authors, Michelle Gallan (Big Girl, Small Town), Niamh Campbell (This Happy) and Rachel Donohue (Temple House Vanishing). 2020 will be a milestone year for each of these authors, as it marks the release of their debut novels. This conversation was recorded before the coronavirus outbreak, when all three women were able to come...

In the second of our ‘Big Night In’ zoom events, Róisín Ingle was joined by comedian and actor Deirdre O’Kane. In front of an audience of 250 podcast listeners, Deirdre spoke about lockdown life at home with her family in Dublin and about her new quarantine hobbies, which include painting pebbles and running into Ryan Tubridy on her daily walks along Dun Laoghaire pier. O'Kane also revealed how th...

In this episode, Róisín Ingle spoke with president and leader of Sinn Fein, Mary Lou McDonald. Earlier this month, McDonald received a positive diagnosis of Covid-19, after waiting sixteen days for her test results. She spoke openly and honestly about her experience with the illness and the immediate sense of connection she felt with everyone who has also contracted the virus. In this conversation...

In this episode, Róisín Ingle spoke with entrepreneur, CEO and keynote speaker Margaret Heffernan. In her latest book ‘Uncharted: How to navigate the future’, Margaret explores the people and organisations who aren’t daunted by uncertainty. The timing of this book is remarkable given that we are in the midst of a global crisis nobody saw coming. In this conversation, Margaret reveals how the idea...

This episode is the live recording taken from the first ever Zoom event for The Women's Podcast. Last Saturday night, Marian Keyes joined Róisin Ingle and a whole host of podcast listeners on Zoom for a virtual get-together. In this conversation, Marian spoke about lockdown life, grocery shopping for her elderly mother, her new found obsession with cosmetics and how cooking "proper fancy dinners o...