The Women's Podcast

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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, Rice speaks to Róisín Ingle about the crucial role mental health plays in addiction issues, the abortion she had at nineteen and how it has shaped her journey since and why she still needs to take her recovery one day at a time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard in London prompted thousands of women to share stories about fearing for their personal safety and the modifications they make to their behaviour in order to feel safe. That collective trauma has spilled out on social media and elsewhere all over the world. On Tuesday, a socially distanced peaceful 'Reclaim the Streets' protest organised by ROSA was held in Dublin. Others are planned for Cork, Limerick and Galway today. In the latest issue of The Irish Times, the results of a survey carried out by Transport Infrastructure Ireland were published. It found that large numbers of Irish women fear for their safety using public transport, cycling or walking alone. The 'Travelling in a Woman’s Shoes' report also found that women felt “heavily responsible” for their own safety when travelling and there was “little focus” in society generally on the role men can play in ensuring their safety. The fact that women are fearful is not shocking to women, but it seems like the penny is still dropping on this issue for many men. On today’s podcast Róisín speaks to our three guests about how society can help women feel safer in the world.Guests: Founder of the Everyday Sexism project and author of books including Girl Up and Men Who Hate Women, Laura Bates, Ruth Coppinger, a former Solidarity TD and founding member of ROSA, a movement for reproductive justice in Ireland, and 22-year-old NUI Galway student Anna Golden, who is a member of Plan International’s Irish and Global Youth Advisory Panel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acts of Desperation is the darkly funny debut novel from Waterford writer Megan Nolan. Set in Dublin, it tells the story of an intense love affair between the narrator and her boyfriend Ciaran, a half-Danish poet. Their dysfunctional relationship plays out over the pages and lends itself to the question: why do women stay with toxic men? Nolan began writing the book while in Athens in 2016 and completed it three years later. In today’s episode, she speaks to Roisin Ingle about her bookish childhood in the sunny south east, her short stint in Trinity college and the positive reaction to her first venture into fiction writing. We’ll be discussing Acts of Desperation in our next episode of the book club, which will be out next month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.