The Women's Podcast

The BBC broadcaster Emma Barnett was the first person in the UK to announce she was menstruating on live TV news. Now she has written a call-to-arms manifesto on why we need to destroy the ludicrous stigma around periods. In the second part of our True Blood series, Emma talks to Kathy about the history of the taboo of periods, the stories women shared with her for the book and the new wave of act...

In the first of a two-part series, we explore why we find periods so hard to talk about and what can be done to help break the stigma that still exists around them. For today’s show, Kathy is joined by Labour councillor Deirdre Kingston, Niamh Dunne, a youth ambassador for Plan International Ireland, and by Claire Hunt of Homeless Period Ireland, to discuss first periods, taboos, period poverty an...

In today's podcast, journalist and founder of the Positive Birth Movement, Milli Hill, talks to Jennifer Ryan about her book Give Birth Like a Feminist. She says pregnant people need to realise that they have choices when it comes to giving birth and the power imbalance between health professionals and those giving birth needs to be redressed. Also in this episode, Róisín Ingle chats to Susan Jane...

In today's podcast, Kathy and Róisín revel in the joys of WAGatha Christie; Tanya Sweeney speaks candidly about postnatal depression; and Irish Times journalist Jack Power reviews 'Consent: Everything a Guy Needs to Know about Sex, Love and Consent', Inti Chavez Perez's sexual health and relationships guidebook aimed at boys and young men. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

Flo Perry is a writer and illustrator, who has managed to make a career out of her passion for drawing breasts and penchant for quizzing people on their sex lives at parties. In her book 'How to Have Feminist Sex', she explores everything from faking it, to consent; from stress, to kink; and how losing your virginity isn't so different to eating your first chocolate croissant. In today’s podcast s...

Last night The Irish Times, in association with Green & Black’s Chocolate, brought Oh My God What A Complete Aisling authors Sarah Breen & Emer McLysaght to The Docklands in Cork for a live recording of the Women’s Podcast. Róisín sat down with Sarah and Emer to discuss their third novel 'Once, Twice, Three Times an Aisling', their plans for the fourth book, what it’s like to write with your best...

In today’s podcast, Róisín talks to singer-songwriter Wallis Bird about her sixth album 'Woman', which is released this week. Wallis talks to Róisín about what's inspired her for the new album - #MeToo, Trump, Brexit, the war in Syria - about how falling in love and being in a grown-up relationship has changed her, why she shaved her head to record 'Woman', and why living in Berlin is as annoyingl...

In her new book ‘Republic of Shame’, journalist Caelainn Hogan examines Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes and the collusion of the Catholic Church with the Irish State. Personal accounts from survivors, nuns and others bring the truth forward for all to see. In today’s podcast, Róisín speaks to Caelainn about the stories of the women she spoke to, the lack of understanding of the suffering they endu...

In 2018, Limerick woman Vicky Phelan became a household name as Irish women's voice for justice, when she chose to speak out and lift the lid on what has become one of the greatest political and medical scandals of our time. In today’s podcast she talks to Róisín about her memoir ‘Overcoming’, which details her remarkable personal story from her early life and a life-threatening accident, through...

In today’s episode, Cork woman Vera Twomey talks to Kathy about her memoir, For Ava. Ava is Vera's daughter and she suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that causes multiple seizures a day. The only medication that has any effect on Ava's condition is a form of medicinal cannabis that Vera has, for years, fought tooth and nail to gain access to. For Ava tells the story of that cam...

In today's podcast, journalist, author and podcaster Sophie White talks to Róisín Ingle about her debut novel, Filter This, in which she peels back the social media mask that many people wear to disguise what’s really going on in their lives. Following her comments about candidate selection this week, Fianna Fail Councillor and General Election candidate Lisa McDonald discusses her belief that the...

Nunchi is a guiding principle of Korean life, considered essential for survival, happiness and success. Roughly translating as self-awareness, Nunchi is the art of a reading a room and using that knowledge for the good of everyone in it. Korean-American author Euny Hong has written the ultimate guide to this secret skill, The Power of Nunchi. In today's show, she talks to Róisín about good and bad...

On today’s podcast: Kathy speaks to the District Attorney of Suffolk County in Massachusetts, Rachael Rollins, who is the first woman to hold that particular office and also the first woman of colour to be appointed as a DA across the whole of Massachusetts Commonwealth. Rollins was in Dublin ahead of her appearance at the Kennedy Summer School in Co. Wexford this weekend. They talk about her land...

Ross O’Carroll-Kelly books have sold over a million copies and creator, Paul Howard, is both adored by fans and revered by critics as the greatest satirist of this generation. In the latest Ross book – Schmidt Happens – women take centre stage. Ross’s wife has just given birth to a baby that isn’t his, his son has walked out on his wife-to-be and his own mother is threatening revenge on Ross for a...

Just over a century ago, Trinity College Dublin admitted its first female student. This year, the 400-year-old university reached another milestone: it has elected its first ever all-female line-up of officers across both the students’ and graduate students’ unions. On this week's show, Kathy talks to president and vice-president of the graduate students’ union respectively, Shaz Oye and Gisèle Sc...

On today’s show, Rachel Flaherty chats to Irish journalist Jenny McQuaile about her powerful documentary Straight/Curve - starring Tess Holliday & Iskra Lawrence. Jenny talks about the body image crisis affecting women & girls worldwide and why we need a more diverse range of role models in the fashion industry and the media. Straight/Curve: http://www.straightcurvefilm.com/Plus: Bernice Harrison...

On today’s podcast – Bernice Harrison talks to the half-Irish half-French author Moira Fowley-Doyle about her third novel for young adults, All The Bad Apples, which tells the stories of a line of women doomed to follow in their ancestor’s footsteps and have their lives turned upside-down at 17.Later, Jennifer Ryan speaks to the British author Emma Jane Unsworth, whose hugely successful book about...

Kathy Sheridan talks drag queens, the Irish lesbian scene and the biggest LGBTQ+ party to bring the summer to a close, Love Sensation, with Cormac Cashman, Lisa Connell and Victoria Secret. Plus: “The world was charmed when she was around"- Rachel DeLoache Williams talks to us about her book, My Friend Anna, telling the explosive true story of Anna 'Delvey' Sorokin, the fake German heiress who foo...

Is catcalling really a problem? Some people might consider it complimentary, but for many women and girls it’s anything but. Often catcalling and other forms of street harassment can actually be quite frightening. A 2015 Dublin City Council report into sexual harassment in Dublin, for example, showed that sexual harassment is a frequent and distressing occurrence for women and girls and that for m...

In this episode Irish Times journalists Polly Dennison and Roisin Ingle talk to host Kathy Sheridan about Donald Trump’s racism and the four congresswomen of colour who have stood up to him. Known now as The Squad they are Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Polly also tells us about Zara’s polka dot dress o...

In a momentous week for Northern Ireland with MPs in Westminster voting to extend abortion and same sex marriage rights to the North, we talk to Danielle Roberts from Alliance for Choice about what happens next. Róisín Ingle also talks to Anne O'Leary CEO of Vodafone Ireland and domestic abuse survivor and campaigner Emma Murphy about Bright Sky Ireland a groundbreaking app to support people in ab...

This episode features two authors one Danish and one Irish: Sofie Hagen is a London-based Danish comedian and fat acceptance campaigner. She has been starting conversations all over the place with her new book ‘Happy Fat: Taking up space in a world that wants to shrink you’. Sofie talked to Roisin Ingle about fatphobia and about why she is on a mission to change the way people talk to and about fa...

Dublin songwriter Ruth-Anne Cunningham chats to Róisín about her incredible career which took with a bang when she won the ASCAP Songwriters ‘Best Pop Song’ award for a song she wrote when she was 19. Since then she has written a string of hits for the likes of Britney Spears, One Direction and John Legend, but in the last two years she has been focusing on her own singing career. Ruth-Anne has ju...

On today's show Róisín talks to number one bestselling author Karin Slaughter. Karin, who has sold over 35 million copies of her books, was in Ireland recently for the Murder One Festival’s Midsummer series of talks – a visit which coincided with the publication of her new novel, The Last Widow. In this podcast she talks to Róisín about the violence in her books, how she likes to divide the gore e...

This week, two 14-year-old boys were convicted of the murder of schoolgirl Ana Kriégel on May 14th 2018. Irish Times Crime Correspondent Conor Gallagher was in court for the duration of the trial. He talks to Róisín about the trial and about Ana Kriégel, the beautiful young girl who was brutally murdered aged just 14.Later: Róisín speaks to Orla O’Connor, director of the National Women’s Council o...