A Podcast of One's Own with Julia Gillard

In this episode Julia sits down with Domtila Chesang, an incredibly courageous woman who has dedicated her life to ending female genital mutilation in her home country, Kenya. In this powerful conversation Domtila explains how the devastatingly harmful practice impacts girls and women around the world, and how she’s working to educate and empower communities in order to stamp it out.She details the pivotal moment in her life that started her journey as an activist. Julia and Domtila also discuss her selection as the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership’s first Changemaker - a program aimed at empowering activists dedicated to advancing gender equality.CW: This episode discusses female genital mutilation and parts of this conversation may be distressing for some listeners. If this brings up anything for you, help is available by contacting the 24-hour national counselling service 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.To learn more about Domtila's work visit https://irepfoundation.org/To learn more about the Changemakers program visit https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/changemakers

In this month’s Book Club episode, Julia and Sarah Holland-Batt discuss The Wren, The Wren by Man Booker prize winner, Anne Enright.Shortlisted for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction, the novel is told in three voices and explores an Irish family’s love, betrayal and intergenerational trauma.Julia and Sarah delve into Enright’s poetry and unique writing style.Show notes:The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright is published by Penguin and available at all good bookstores: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-wren-the-wren-9781529922905

Katrina Gorry is a trailblazer on and off the pitch. Last year she stole our hearts in her record-breaking performance in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, making the highest number of tackles and covering the most ground of any player in the tournament. Katrina helped the Matildas reach the semi-finals for the first time ever, catapulting her and the rest of the team to the status of national treasures and putting women’s football on the map in Australia for the first time.Speaking to Julia just after the birth of her second child Koby earlier this month, Katrina tells the remarkable story of her journey to motherhood and how she has balanced her lifelong dream of having a family alongside an elite sporting career.As she prepares for the upcoming Paris Olympics, she reflects on the legacy of last year’s World Cup, how much progress has been achieved for women’s sports and what still needs to change to truly level the playing field. In this episode, Julia and Katrina discuss her moving Australian Story documentary. This is available to watch on the ABC Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GfhN0rdTS8Katrina also references the Matildas’ Trailblazers documentary, which is essential viewing for anyone interested in learning more about the history of the Matildas, women’s football more broadly, and the ongoing battle for equal pay in the sport. The documentary is available to watch on Stan and you can find out more here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/trailblazers-2024.This conversation touches on themes of eating disorders. If this issue affects you or someone you know, Butterfly offers free confidential support. You can call their National Helpline on 1800 33 4673, chat online or email.

In this episode of Julia's Book Club, Julia and Sarah Holland-Batt sit down together in London to discuss The Sun Walks Down, by Australian author Fiona McFarlane.The Sun Walks Down tells the story of a remote South Australian town in the 1880s where a young boy has gone missing during a dust storm.As the community rallies to find 6 year old Denny Wallace, readers experience the search, the town dynamics and the complex landscape surrounding them from the perspective of various characters, including Denny’s family, Indigenous trackers, Afghan cameleers, policemen, mothers, children and farmers. Julia and Sarah delve into the book’s exploration of colonialism, race and gender, and how it challenges the stereotypical narrative of a child lost in the bush.Show notesThe Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane is published by Allen & Unwin and is available at all good bookstores - https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Fiona-McFarlane-Sun-Walks-Down-9781761066207To learn more about co-host Sarah Holland-Batt visit https://www.sarahhollandbatt.com

For many Australians, and tennis fans around the world, Jelena Dokic is a household name.In this episode, she opens up to Julia about her childhood surviving poverty and fleeing war-torn Yugoslavia, to her meteoric rise to fame on the tennis court, all the while silently suffering at the hands of an abusive father.Now, the self-described 'victim, survivor, thriver' speaks openly about how she’s overcoming her mental health struggles and vicious online trolls to lead a happy and fulfilling life as a best-selling author, tennis commentator, motivational speaker and advocate against family violence.Show notes:Please be aware that parts of this episode may be distressing for some listeners. Help is available by contacting the 24-hour national counselling service 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.If you need mental health support, visit Beyond Blue.If you need crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.Jelena's books are published by Penguin and available at all good book stores.

In this month’s Book Club episode Julia sits down with her good friend, best-selling author Kathy Lette, to discuss The Fraud, by British writer Zadie Smith.The Fraud is a historical fiction novel set in the Victorian era, centred around a real life London court case - The Tichborne Trial.England is captivated by the case, in which a man claims to be Sir Roger Tichborne - the heir to a large fortune and long believed dead. Julia and Kathy delve into the book’s exploration of race, gender, age and beauty, with many laughs along the way! Show notes:The Fraud by Zadie Smith is published by Penguin and available at all good bookstores.The Revenge Club by Kathy Lette is published by Bloomsbury and available at all good bookstores.

Katy Gallagher is Australia’s Federal Minister for Women, Minister for Finance and Minister for the Public Service.In this candid conversation Julia and Katy delve into Katy’s early life growing up in Canberra, the tragic loss that shaped her path forward, her career in ACT and federal politics and how she’s working to better the lives of all Australian women through the Federal Government’s new strategy for gender equality.Show notes:Learn more about the Federal Government’s strategy for gender equality here: https://genderequality.gov.au/If you, or someone you know, has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault, help is available by contacting the 24-hour national counselling service 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.

In the first ever Book Club episode of A Podcast of One’s Own, Julia and co-host Sarah Holland-Batt delve into Australian author Anna Funder’s new work Wifedom.Wifedom tells the untold story of Eileen O'Shaughnessy and her marriage to George Orwell, one of the most famed English writers of all time.Funder recreates the Orwell’s’ marriage, taking readers through the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War in London.Eileen’s story has been largely ignored by the history books, and as Funder shows, sometimes even rewritten by biographers of Orwell.Julia and Sarah discuss Funder’s unique style of writing, how women get written out of history, how Eileen’s experience resonates with women today, and how fans of Orwell’s work can reconcile that with his personal behaviour.Show notes:Wifedom by Anna Funder is published by Penguin and available at all good bookstores. https://www.penguin.com.au/books/wifedom-9780143787112Find out more about co-host Sarah Holland-Batt here: https://www.sarahhollandbatt.com/

In this episode, Julia sits down with activist, sexual consent champion and a voice for her generation, Chanel Contos. Chanel was a catalyst for transforming how consent education works in Australia. In 2021, aged just 22, she sparked a national media storm when she exposed the alarming level of sexual assault in Sydney private schools. From here, the “Teach Us Consent” Campaign was born –  an online petition asking for sexual consent education in Australian schools, which quickly gained more than 44,000 signatures supported by over 6,500 testimonies of sexual assault. And less just a year later in 2022, this ground-breaking campaign resulted in fundamental changes to the Australian curriculum when holistic and age-appropriate consent education was introduced in every school, across every age group.Chanel takes us through this whirlwind journey – from that first day back in 2021, up until today, and reflects on everything she’s been up to along the way. From publishing her first book, Consent Laid Bare, to her work with young changemakers as the Chair of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership's Youth Committee. She and Julia talk activist burnout, how to engage everyone (especially young men and boys) in the conversation around consent, their optimism for the future and why it’s so important to be ruthless with systems and kind with people if we want to achieve lasting cultural change.CW: This episode covers themes of consent and sexual violence, and parts of this conversation may be distressing for some listeners. If this brings up anything for you, help is available by contacting the 24-hour national counselling service 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.