The Women's Podcast

In this specially extended podcast, Sinead O'Connor invites us into her home to talk about her extraordinary new memoir Rememberings. Over coffee and cigarettes she talks Róisín Ingle through her traumatic childhood, her singular musical career and the liberation she found in tearing up that photo of the pope. And there's more: Prince, family bonds, nuns, shame, writing, singing, head shaving, truth-talking, touring and swearing. Rememberings by Sinead O'Connor is published by Sandycove, an imprint of Penguin Books, on June 1st 2021. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It’s three years since the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment was passed by a landslide on May 25th 2018. Now, film directors Aideen Kane, Lucy Kennedy and Maeve O’Boyle are releasing their documentary, The 8th, about that defining moment in Irish history. With footage gathered over a three-year period, The 8th brings us voices from both sides of the referendum campaign. It takes us behind the scenes of the Together for Yes campaign with co-leader, Ailbhe Smyth, and follows self-described glitter activist and co-presenter of the podcast Don’t Stop Repealin’, Andrea Horan, as they chart a bold strategy of grassroots activism. In today’s episode, Róisín talks to Ailbhe Smyth and to The 8th director, Lucy Kennedy, looking back at a campaign that brought about a monumental change in Ireland’s abortion laws after a 35-year long struggle. The 8th is released on video-on-demand in Ireland and the UK on 25 May, to coincide with the third anniversary of the referendum. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-

The inspiration for Fíona Scarlett’s debut novel came to her just over three years ago while scrolling through Twitter. The schoolteacher turned author happened across a tweet by a paediatric palliative care doctor, in which he had listed what his young patients said they would miss the most when they died. Using their answers as a springboard, Scarlett immediately opened up her laptop and wrote what is now the first chapter of Boys Don’t Cry. In today’s episode, she tells Róisín Ingle why, having only started writing in her mid thirties, it’s never too late to try your hand at something new. She also speaks lovingly about her father who died last year, the next book in the pipeline and her literary inspirations. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When the trailer for Wild Mountain Thyme was released late last year, it was immediately met with widespread criticism, not only for its delusional depictions of modern Irish life, but for its dodgy Irish accents and over the top Paddywhackery. Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, the film is based on his play Outside Mullingar, which ran on Broadway in 2014. It stars Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan as Rosemary and Anthony, two lonely souls who have grown up beside each other on neighbouring farms. Completing the star studded cast is Jon Hamm and Christopher Walken. After keeping us waiting for almost six months, the film was finally released to Irish audiences on April 30th. We invited comedian Erin McGathy and journalist Jenn Gannon to watch the movie and share their thoughts and observations with Róisín Ingle on today’s episode. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today is a BIG day for us. It’s our 500th episode! We love any excuse for a party, as you know, so in lieu of being able to gather the team together for some bubbles we did a very pandemic thing and partied with our listeners over Zoom. Last Thursday evening we held a live episode of the podcast with some very special guests aged 19 to 81, who shared their feelings on ageing and becoming Older & Bolder. They were: Yara Alagha, Rosemary Adaser, Olivia O’Leary, Allie O’Rourke, Jan Brierton, Ann Ingle, Hilary Fannin, Dr Rosaleen McDonagh, Dr Catherine Motherway and Iniolu Ekeolu. It was an emotional evening, as Kathy and Róisín reminisced about some of their most memorable episodes and talked about how far we’ve come since that very first show about women in politics back in 2015. Since then we’ve covered everything from sex toys to fashion, pregnancy to pensions, theatre, domestic violence, abortion and so much more. In today’s episode, you can hear highlights from the live show, including from TV presenter

Hollie McNish writes about so much of what it means to be a woman. In her latest book, Slug… and other things I’ve been told to hate, she writes about death and grief, growing up and periods, parenting, her relationship with her body, masturbation and lots more. The book is a mixture of poetry, prose, short stories and essays. It’s not your usual “poetry book” and it’s all the better for it. In this episode, McNish talks to Róisín Ingle about her life and career, women’s bodies, her amazing grandmothers, her posh Cambridge education and growing up in the same village as Kate Middleton. Hollie also performs two brilliant poems from Slug, which is published in Ireland this week. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Have you ever really thought about where your clothes come from? Who makes them and what conditions are they working in? What happens to all the material waste from unwanted garments? These are the thoughts and questions that inspired Dublin fashion designer Laura Egan to launch Studio Minti, a sustainable online fashion hub & preloved clothing store. Leaving behind a career in London, Egan now sells vintage and second-hand clothes, upcycles and alters existing outfits and educates her customers on sustainable fashion. In this episode, the designer speaks to Róisín Ingle about her early creative influences, the best ways to reimagine the items already in your wardrobe, and as we emerge from lockdown and begin dressing ourselves again, why we should all be considering a move away from fast fashion.Also just a reminder to please join us tonight, Thursday May 6th, on Facebook LIVE as we celebrate 500 episodes of The Women's Podcast. We're hosting a storytelling event called Older and Bolder to mark this mega

In 1982, Gemma Hussey became Ireland’s first female minister for education. She was appointed by Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald after winning a seat for Fine Gael in Wicklow. Her appointment caused a bit of a culture shock among several of her male fellow ministers and for five years she was the only woman in cabinet. A lifetime liberal feminist, Hussey was co-founder of the Women’s Political Association and after she retired from politics in 1989, she wrote a book based on her cabinet diaries, At the Cutting Edge. It was hailed as the most thorough and realistic account of life inside cabinet in Ireland and caused quite a stir. In today’s podcast, Hussey looks back at her political career with Kathy Sheridan, recalling what it was like to be the only woman in cabinet, some of the shocking sexism she had to deal with - including Charlie Haughey snapping her bra strap - and the ferocity of the 1983 campaign on the Eighth Amendment. They also discuss the pandemic, the loss of her husband Derry just days before Chr

Lifestyle blogs are ten a penny, but well-informed health blogs are hard to find. Siobhán Freeney’s ‘Being Dense’ is an Irish blog aiming to raise awareness around breast density, a condition that increases the risk of developing cancer, because it can lead to breast cancers being masked on mammograms. On today’s podcast, Freeney talks to Kathy Sheridan about her patient advocacy work, her own experience with breast cancer, and explains why breast density notification must become part of regular breast screening in Ireland. Also on today’s show, Róisín chats to Romana Testasecca of Watermelon Fitness, who is raising much needed funds for ‘Cooking for Freedom’ - a small charity which helps asylum seekers in Direct Provision buy food for themselves. She is holding on online event called ‘Move to Feel Good’ and it’s happening this Bank Holiday Monday. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Roisin Kiberd was born in 1989, the same year that Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist, invented the World Wide Web. In her new book The Disconnect, Kiberd takes a look at life growing up alongside the ever-expanding, ever-evolving Internet. In these interlinked essays, she examines our dependency and obsession with the online world, the ways we are more connected than ever before, and the disconnect this breeds. She asks what we have gained, what we have lost, and what we have willingly given away in exchange for this connected life. In today’s episode, Kiberd speaks to Róisín Ingle about the pressures of social media, the murky world of online dating and how her all-consuming relationship with technology eventually led to her breakdown. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Until a few weeks ago, 19-year-old UCC law student Alicia O’Sullivan had never heard of Admireme.vip. The website is an 18+ subscription-only platform, which describes itself as a place to share the “most intimate and secret content”. Alicia only became familiar with it after images purporting to be her appeared on the site. Someone had stolen her identity and set up a fake profile, doctoring pictures from her Instagram and photoshopping her face onto the bodies of nude women. Alicia went to the Gardaí about the scam, but feels she wasn’t taken seriously. In today’s episode, she speaks to The Irish Times journalist Jennifer O’Connell about that experience and why she has decided to speak out, launching the campaign group Safety Over Stigma, so others don’t have to go through the same ordeal. Also on the today’s show, Labour senator Ivana Bacik, whose party first introduced the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill that became Coco’s Law, explains why what happened to Alicia is illegal u

Alexandra Heminsley is a best selling author, journalist and broadcaster. Her latest memoir Some Body to Love is an open-hearted exploration into body image, identity and family life. In the book, Heminsley shares her experiences of IVF, pregnancy and sexual assault, all of which have had a profound effect on her own sense of self. She also details the breakdown of her marriage, following her then-husband's transition. In today’s episode, she speaks to Róisín Ingle about her journey to motherhood, building a LGBTQ+ family and re-configuring her life path. Alexandra will also be taking part in this year’s West Cork Literary Festival, where she’ll be discussing the book and hosting a memoir and life-writing workshop. Full details will be released on westcorkliteraryfestival.ie in May. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you’ve ever passed the GPO on Dublin’s O’Connell Street on a Friday evening, you’re very likely to have seen the Muslim Sisters of Éire (MSOE) hard at work. The group is a grassroots, non-profit, all-female organisation, established in 2010 to promote integration and social inclusion, and to provide support services to the most vulnerable. Every Friday night at their soup kitchen in Dublin city centre, they serve hot meals to more than 500 people in need. But that’s just one of the many valuable charitable services they provide. On today’s show, Róisín speaks to chairperson and founder of the MSOE, Lorraine O’Connor, and to Sabina Syed, who has been volunteering with her for the past eight years. They discuss the work they do, how the pandemic has impacted it, observing a second Ramadan in lockdown and dispelling negative stereotypes about Islam. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this book club episode, Róisín, Ann Ingle, Bernice Harrison and Niamh Towey discuss Acts of Desperation, the debut novel from Waterford writer Megan Nolan. The book focuses on a turbulent relationship between the unnamed narrator and the “exceptionally beautiful” Ciaran, a half-Danish poet. Their intense love affair begins at a gallery launch, with our narrator pondering “Is it possible to love someone without knowing them, by sight?”. However, their infatuation spirals quickly downhill and the reader is brought into the darkest depths of their dysfunction. It’s an exploration of early adult life, and as one of our book clubbers puts it “what it is to be a young woman in all its various different guises”. As to be expected, it’s a lively discussion with differing viewpoints, some minor disagreements and the odd expletive. If you’d like to listen back to our episode with the author Megan Nolan, you can find it here: https://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-483-megan-nolan-acts-of-desperation See acast.com

In today’s episode we are delving deep into the ‘manosphere’ with English feminist writer and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project Laura Bates. The ‘manosphere’ relates to a collection of websites, blogs and online forums promoting masculinity, hostility towards women and strong opposition to feminism. In her ground-breaking new book, Men Who Hate Women, Bates goes undercover to expose these vast misogynist networks and communities, from incels to pick up artists to men’s rights activists. She explores what it is that attracts men to the movement, how it grooms and radicalises young boys and what can be done to stop it. Bates tells Róisín Ingle why, given that these groups are linked to the real life murders and crimes against women, we can't afford to ignore this brand of terrorism. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sue Rainsford handed in the final manuscript of her novel Redder Days on the 14th of March 2020, the same day that Irish schools and colleges closed their doors due to Covid-19. It was remarkable timing, given the (now all too familiar) pandemic theme running through her book. Set in a world wracked by climate change, Redder Days tells the story of a survivalist cult who seek to escape a mysterious contagion only known as ‘red’. In today’s episode, the author speaks to Róisín Ingle about this accidental prediction, an idea she’s had since 2013. They also discuss her childhood spent in South Dublin, her love for dystopian writing and plans for her next book. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Have you ever felt like your brain is fuzzy, that you just can't seem to focus on the task in hand, or you have trouble finding the right word in a sentence? If the answer is yes, then you may be one of the many people - and most often it is women - who has experienced brain fog. In her new book, Beating Brain Fog: Your 30-day Plan to Think Faster, Sharper, Better, neuroscientist and health psychologist, Dr Sabina Brennan, throws light on the experience, which is not a condition in itself, but rather an indication that something else may be amiss. Brain fog can be a symptom of many conditions including migraine, multiple sclerosis and long Covid – in which some people continue to suffer months after the initial Covid-19 symptoms have passed. On today's podcast, Róisín talks to Dr Brennan and Joanna Leszczuk, who followed the 30-day plan in the book after she suffered brain fog as a result of coronavirus. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This Wednesday March 31st marks International Transgender Day of Visibility. It's an annual event celebrating transgender and non-binary people which also aims to raise awareness of discrimination of this community worldwide.. In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by two trans women Allie O'Rourke and Becky Cheatle, winners of the Virgin Media Discovers Short Film Competition and a prize of 30,000 euro towards producing their short film 'Punch Line’. Both are stand up comedians and worked as co-writers on the project, while Cheatle will direct and O’Rourke will act in the production. Based on true events, ‘Punch Line’ tells the story of how a transgender stand-up comedian reframes a transphobic attack she experiences during the day and works it into her comedy routine later that evening. In this conversation, the pair discuss their experiences as trans women in Ireland, how society can be more inclusive and their exciting plans for the film which is currently in pre-production. See acast.com/privacy for

The UK government has intervened to compel the introduction of full abortion services in Northern Ireland due to a lack of progress on the issue by politicians there. Almost a year after abortion was officially decriminalised in Northern Ireland, women there are still being forced to travel to Britain for terminations. Cara Sanquest is an Irish woman living in London who set up the London Irish Abortion Rights Campaign and is now Campaigns and Research Manager for the MP Stella Creasy. She worked with Creasy on the 2019 Westminster legislation which decriminalised abortion in the North and on today's podcast she tells Róisín why, nearly two years on, the UK government has had to intervene once again. Also on today's show, Róisín talks to author Catherine Talbot about her chilling debut novel, A Good Father, which explores the male-dominated crime known as ‘family annihilation’. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Melissa Rice is what you might describe as an unexpected addict. Growing up in a happy family in Kirkby, on the outskirts of Liverpool, Rice excelled in school and later qualified as a primary school teacher. Discovering alcohol in her early teens, she used it as a form of escapism, a route to confidence and sociability. But by the time she had reached her early twenties, her relationship with alcohol began to unravel every aspect of her life, including her teaching career, her friendships and her family. Now three years sober, the former primary school teacher turned author is sharing her story. In her new book Sobering: Lessons learnt the hard way on drinking, thinking and quitting, she describes her journey to rock bottom, “hitting every shameful branch along the way” and the long difficult road to recovery. Written with the expert help of rehab and addiction specialists, the book offers invaluable advice and an insight into the powerful hold that addiction can take over someone’s life. In today’s episode,