The Women's Podcast

The German Ambassador to Ireland, Deike Potzel, has been touring the country since her appointment last November in a bid to learn about Ireland from the Irish. Her Excellency has worked in the diplomatic corps since the late 1990s, with postings in Singapore and Tehran in the past. On today's podcast Ambassador Potzel speaks to Kathy Sheridan about growing up in East Berlin before the wall came down in 1989 and about how life for women in the east was very different to the west when that happened. They also speak about the recent referendum on the 8th amendment and Germany’s abortion laws, before delving into Brexit, the rise of the far right, immigration and Germany’s role in Ireland’s austerity after the collapse of the banking system… just a few light topics of a Thursday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pope Francis touches down on Irish soil this Saturday morning 25th August, for the second papal visit in Ireland's history. For many Catholics this is an occasion to be celebrated, but for countless other people the arrival of the pope stirs up feelings of anger at the legacy of the relationship between church and state in Ireland. Maeve O'Rourke is a senior research and policy officer at the ICCL and has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Magdalene women on a voluntary basis. Conall Ó Fátharta is a journalist with the Irish Examiner and has written extensively about mother and baby homes, forced adoptions and the Magdalene women for that paper. In today's episode they speak to Kathy Sheridan about the ongoing problems with how Ireland is addressing its legacy of church-related abuse.Also on the podcast, Emer McLysaght, co-author of Oh My God What a Complete Aisling and it's soon-to-be-published follow-up, The Importance of Being Aisling, reads a letter to the pope from the much-loved character she created with Sarah Breen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Irish Times journalist Rachel Flaherty did what many people are understandably wary of doing, she opened up about her unhealthy relationship with food and her challenge to become fitter and healthier. In an article in the Irish Times, she explains why she made the decision to do something about it when at five stone overweight, she found herself struggling to climb the stairs. She speaks to Róisín Ingle about making that decision, what she has done since then and deciding to write about it. Later in the podcast you'll hear from The Smashing Times Theatre company about their excellent Women in an Equal Europe project, with Nigerian-Born Broadcast Journalist, Motivational Speaker and writer, Vanessa Ogida, and Mary Moynihan of Smashing Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In case you missed, it the Irish women’s hockey team made history last week, becoming the first Irish team ever to reach a world cup final. They lost to a formidable Dutch side in that match, but they were already winners by then, having entered the competition as underdogs and never expecting to get so far. In this episode Kathy Sheridan speaks to two of those amazing women, forward Anna O’Flanagan and midfielder Chloe Watkins. They tell about the tournament, what their achievement means to them, but even more importantly, what needs to happen now to keep that momentum going. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode, Roisin Ingle talks to Portlaoise novelist Helen Cullen who is causing a stir with her debut novel The Lost Letters of William Woolf. Cullen explains how she went from working in RTE to writing her first novel which to her delight was snapped up by Penguin. The book is being described as Up-Lit, short for ‘uplifting literature’ and an antidote to the doom laden global political climate. Also in this episode, Jennifer Ryan visits a new exhibition in Dublin Castle celebrating the legacy of legendary textile artist Lucienne Day who was a one-woman pioneer of contemporary art in the 1950s and 1960s in Britain. This week the Women’s Podcast would also like to send our best wishes to the Irish Women’s Hockey team who are up against India tonight hoping to secure a place in the World Hockey semi-final. COYGIG!Music: I Knew A Guy, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Creative Commons Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ten of Ireland's leading theatres, drama festivals and theatre companies have agreed to a range of gender equality policies, which in some cases will see “gender-blind casting” or ensuring that half of new shows will be written by women. The gender equality policy for the theatre sector, launched by Minister for Culture Josepha Madigan, arose from the Waking the Feminists campaign to address the under-representation of women, including writers and directors, in Irish theatre. Roísín Ingle talks to academic Dr Brenda Donohue, who has produced a study on the subject, & Lynne Parker, director and co-founder of Rough Magic theatre company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Margaret Atwood's adventurous canoe trip in the Canadian Wilderness, to Alison Spittle's irate naked granny, to Lisa Dwan's near-death brush with a barracuda, here are some memorable summer holiday stories from friends of the podcast. Hats off to Joya and Priya Hobson who were put to work by their mother Róisín Ingle at the Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas, to gather these stories. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sexism has been a bigger problem than racism at the World Cup in Russia, according to anti-discrimination experts advising FIFA. There have been reports of fans harassing female broadcasters while they worked and the head of FIFA’s diversity program says they want less focus on attractive women in stadiums in TV broadcasts. Female pundits have been more plentiful for this tournament, but there is still some distance to go before women football analysts are taken as seriously as their male counterparts. RTÉ sports presenter Jacqui Hurley, Irish International footballer and RTÉ pundit for the World Cup, Stephanie Roche and Margaret Ward, a journalist and founder of Women On Air, speak to Bernice Harrison about what needs to be done if there's to be any chance of leveling the playing field. Later in the show: Beck Dorey-Stein has written a memoir called From the Corner of the Oval Office, an account of her five years as President Barack Obama's stenographer. She talks to Bernice about working at the White House. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gone are the days when online dating was viewed with judgement or derision. Now, it's where hot young things seek out consensual one-night stands, where long term couples meet and where 50-something widows find "the most gorgeous man" they've ever seen, like Irish Times writer Joan Scales did. On today's podcast, she talks to presenter Bernice Harrison and Irish Times agony aunt Roe McDermott about her experience with Tinder. In the second part of the show, British journalist and author Emma Brockes speaks about her book, An Excellent Choice, which tells the story of her path to motherhood at 37, single and in the beginnings of a same-sex relationship. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode was recorded in front an audience on the Woodlands Stage at the Body & Soul festival last weekend. The topic was Ireland after the #8thRef and how we got here. The guests: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Ailbhe Smyth, co-director of the Together for Yes campaign, founder of the Repeal Project, Anna Cosgrave and Claudia Horeau from Migrants and Ethnicities for Reproductive Justice. Up and coming alt-rock Limerick band Pow Pig performed live at the event. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.