The Women's Podcast

If you’re looking for a last minute gift idea, you can never go wrong with a good book. So that’s why we’ve gathered our book clubbers, Niamh Towey, Bernice Harrison, Róisín and Ann Ingle in studio to share their favourite reads of 2023. Their recommendations include a collection of feminist essays, an unforgettable memoir and a best-selling novel on time travel. Whether it's a gift for family, friends or even for yourself, we hope there's something for everyone here. Here's the list of books mentioned in this episode:Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver Bad Feminist by Roxane GayBefore the Coffee gets Cold by Toshikaz KawaguchBirnam Wood by Eleanor CattonTom Lake by Ann Patchett Western Lane by Chetna Maroo  Past Lying by Val McDermid An Eye on Ireland: A Journey Through Social Change by Justine McCarthy Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan So Late in the Day, Foster and Small Things Like These, all three by Claire Keegan. All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow Good Material by Dolly Alderton Dear Gay by Suzy Byrne The Bee Sting by Paul Murray Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Irish motorsport legend Rosemary Smith died last week at the age of 86. To pay tribute to the trailblazing rally driver, we want to bring you this interview with Smith from 2018. Following the release of ‘Driven’, her memoir ghostwritten by none other than Ann Ingle, Smith joined Róisín Ingle in studio to discuss her colourful racing career, her love affairs with the likes of Oliver Reed and Adam Faith and how she overcame the odd bump in the road along the way. Rest easy Rosemary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2020, author and reality television star Georgia Harrison became a victim of so called ‘revenge porn’ when she was secretly recorded having sex with her ex partner, Stephen Bear and the footage then put online without her consent. The intimate moment between the two was captured on the CCTV system at Bear’s house and despite pleas from Harrison to delete the footage, her ex uploaded it to the internet, for the entire world to see. In March this year, Bear was sentenced to 21 months in prison for sharing the sexual content. In this episode, Harrison tells Róisín Ingle about the trauma of her most personal moment becoming public, why she didn’t think twice before going to the police and how she campaigned to change a major loophole in the UK law on image based sexual abuse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Irish-Nigerian author and broadcaster Emma Dabiri is giving the middle finger to modern beauty standards. Growing up, Dabiri felt pressured to conform to “oppressive” beauty ideals, to shrink herself to fit in and to straighten her afro hair. Now, as she explains in her new essay ‘Disobedient Bodies’, it’s time to rebel against those suffocating beauty constructs. From going makeup free to embracing her natural hair, Dabiri tells Róisín Ingle about the power that comes with reclaiming your unruly beauty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In her new book, An Eye on Ireland, award-winning journalist and Irish Times columnist Justine McCarthy shares new and selected pieces of work from her long-spanning career in journalism. For four decades, McCarthy’s writing has challenged stereotypes, held power to account and helped amplify the voices of women in Ireland. In this wide ranging conversation with Róisín Ingle, McCarthy reflects on her entry into journalism, how the death of her father as a young girl shaped the woman she would become, and she shares some of the stories and subjects that left a lasting impression. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In her new book Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution, author Cat Bohannon explores the history and science behind the development of the female sex. In this episode, Bohannon explains to Róisín Ingle why the frequent omission of female bodies from scientific research inspired her to write the book, the ‘superpowers’ that she says only females are born with and how the advancement of gynaecology and midwifery helped drive civilisation forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Exploration of character Karl and his interactions with Sabine in 'So Late in the Day' by Claire Keegan, delving into his insecurities and complexities. Analysis of the book's creation process and Sabine's revelation. Discussion on the author's writing style, character dynamics, and a controversial music scandal.

Six years ago, when writer and psychotherapist Lucy Cavendish turned 50 , she began to feel like she didn’t fit in anymore. With her four children reared, Cavendish’s identity as a working mother was gone, leaving her feeling as though she was fading into invisibility; a feeling that some other women in their fifties also experience. After numerous ‘moments’ where she felt a profound ‘loss of self’, she was left wondering, ‘who am I?’ It is this question that the writer tackles in her latest piece for The Guardian, which explores how women in their 50s can begin to step out of the shadows. In this conversation with Róisín Ingle, Cavendish speaks about her feelings of irrelevance and being ‘othered’, what she’s been hearing from those of a similar vintage, and the positive ways in which women can reclaim a sense of purpose and identity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three years ago, Irish Times contributor Catherine Cleary decided to buy the cheapest land she could find in Ireland, with the dream of planting her own native forest. Following a long search, Cleary and her husband Liam, eventually came across 40 acres of land for sale in Co Roscommon. This year, with the help of family, friends and paid contractors, they planted 24,000 trees over 27 acres and have watched their slice of Irish countryside burst back into life. In this conversation with Róisín Ingle, Cleary talks about why she took on a project of this size, the inspiration behind her social enterprise Pocket Forests, which aims to bring mini-forests to urban spaces and how she’s trying to make the world a better place one tree at a time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Romantic love, widely elevated as a subject worth interrogating, tends to get a lot of attention while platonic friendship is woefully neglected in the public discourse. Enter, self-described “friendaholic” Elizabeth Day who is attempting to redress the balance. The author and woman behind the hit How to Fail podcast spoke to Roisin Ingle about why the complex bonds of friendship need more attention and how during the pandemic she was forced to reassess her own friendship circle. Her new book Friendaholic: Confessions of a friendship addict prompted her to look back at her experience of being bullied at school while growing up in Belfast where she struggled to fit in and make friends. Day spent many years using friendship - the more friends the better - as a form of self-validation. For Day, having lots of friends meant you were loved, popular and safe. But this quantity over quality approach was often to the detriment of her own boundaries and mental health. Day talked to Ingle about the great friendships of her life, what it feels like to be ghosted, dealing with frenemies, how friendships were affected by her fertility journey and the lessons she learned while writing the book. Friendaholic: Confessions of a friendship addict is out now.This episode was originally published in May 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.