The Women's Podcast

Author, podcaster and fond friend of the show, Marian Keyes is back with her sixteenth novel ‘My Favourite Mistake’. It follows Anna Walsh, as she ditches her high-flying PR job and makes the move from the Big Apple to the wilds of Connemara. In this episode, Keyes talks to Róisín Ingle about abandoning the original idea for the book, in favour of writing a love story instead. She also reflects on some recent personal milestones; moving house, celebrating 30 years of sobriety and having her portrait unveiled at the National Gallery of Ireland.

In this episode, author Caroline Magennis talks to Róisín Ingle about her new book Harpy: A Manifesto for Childfree Women. It’s a look beyond the often divisive conversation around choosing not to have children, and offers an alternative message of hope and celebration. We also hear from Margaret O’Connor, a Limerick-based psychotherapist and presenter of the ‘Are Kids For Me’ Podcast. Through her work as a therapist, O’Connor supports people wondering if parenthood is for them. Writer Laura Kennedy, is also here to discuss the pressures faced by women as they approach the end of their fertility window and her own feelings of  ambivalence around motherhood.

It’s hard to believe the last time Wallis Bird was on the podcast was nearly five years ago in 2019. Since then, the Berlin-based musician has released two more albums, the latest of which, Visions of Venus, was released last month. It’s a creative collaboration with the German classical quintet Spark, and together they are showcasing 1000 years of female composers from Clara Schumann to Kate Bush, Enya to Hildegard von Bingen. In this wide-ranging conversation with Róisín Ingle, Bird talks about the women at the centre of this ambitious album and what their music means to her. She also shares the details of her ongoing renovation project, turning a derelict farmhouse in rural Germany into a house for herself and five others, and she talks about the grief and shock at losing her best friend suddenly last December.

Last November, Pastiche, a pop singer-songwriter from Malahide in Co Dublin was diagnosed with endometriosis, more than a decade after her first symptoms of the condition developed. While the diagnosis itself came as a relief, the 26-year-old was told she may face difficulties when trying to conceive later on. This ultimately led to her decision to freeze her eggs, as a sort of "insurance policy” for her fertility. In this conversation with Kathy Sheridan, Pastiche talks about the egg freezing process, what she wishes she knew going into it and how she’s used her music to share her personal story. We also hear from Edwina Oakes, chairperson of the Irish Fertility Counsellors Association, who discusses the reasons behind the rising numbers of women freezing their eggs and explains who she typically sees going forward for the procedure.Pastiche’s new song Forfeit Control is out now.

What does narcissism in mothers look like? According to psychotherapists Helen Villiers and Katie McKenna, the narcissistic mother can be “extremely critical, condescending, oppressive and very judgmental”, with devastating impacts for the entire family. They can also use covert or insidious tactics: taking on a victim role or using guilt tripping or stonewalling to get their way. In this episode, Villiers and McKenna join Róisín Ingle to discuss the main traits of maternal narcissism, how it can impact families and how to heal the emotional scars that come with being a child of narcissistic parents.Their new book You’re Not the Problem: The impact of narcissism and emotional abuse and how to heal is out now.

In this episode, Róisín Ingle talks to debut author Rebecca Ivory about her new collection of short stories Free Therapy. The book takes its name from the second story in the collection, but the theme of therapy is there throughout; Ivory’s own therapist even gets a mention in the acknowledgements. The collection takes us into the lives of people who “keep making the same mistakes over and over again”, but for a variety of reasons are unable to change. It’s about unfulfilling jobs, unfulfilling men, desire and connection and has also been endorsed by Sally Rooney. In this conversation, Ivory talks about finding the confidence to pursue her creative dreams, how her family and working-class background shaped her and how she juggles working full time and writing her first novel. 

Simone Gannon is a content creator, digital marketing expert and the new beauty writer at the Irish Times. Since the beginning of the new year, she’s been entertaining us with her weekly beauty column, where she experiments with the latest trends, imparts her wisdom on all things skincare and makeup and shares her favourite beauty buys. In this episode, Gannon speaks to Róisín Ingle about how to look after your skin at any age, the must have items for the ultimate skin care routine and the beauty products she purchases time and time again.

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, so in this episode, we want to highlight the experience of two women living with the condition. Dearbhail Ormond is an entrepreneur and mother of one, with stage four endometriosis, who waited a staggering 18 years to get a diagnosis after seeing more than 20 doctors. Ormond tells Aideen Finnegan about her struggle to find answers to her pain and how it ultimately led her to found ‘frendo app’, a platform for tracking symptoms and to provide support to others navigating the condition. We also hear from Johanna Huber, a physiotherapist and yoga teacher based in Co Cork, who also spent many years being misdiagnosed. Huber discusses the surgeries she underwent to treat her pain, how she helps other women ease their symptoms through movement and relaxation and why she eventually sought medical treatment abroad.

It’s World Poetry Day today, so what better way to celebrate it than with one of our favourite poets and friend of the show, Jan Brierton. In this episode, Brierton, a self-described ‘accidental’ poet, joins Róisín Ingle to talk about her new book, Everybody Is A Poem. It’s s beautiful collection covering themes of love, loss, menopause, midlife, the mental load, self-acceptance, and much more. Brierton talks about the real-life events which inspired her latest batch of poetry and recites a couple of her favourites.