Share
The Women's Agenda Podcast
The climate reality check meets hope
Ep. 2
•
The global wins on gender equality face backlash, and Australia gets a risk assessment reality check on climate change.
So where's the hope? Meet Natalie Kyriacou, an environmentalist and writer on a mission to get us all curious about the natural world, regardless of where we think we might sit on the political spectrum.
Natalie has garnered massive local and international attention for her just-released book, Nature's Last Dance, especially in how she navigates the stories of nature in ways that everyone can access and find something worth saving.
Natalie speaks about hope, the wins of the past that can highlight the opportunities of the present, and why she's dedicated her life and career to witnessing and sharing the best of nature, and bringing it to everyone
About today's guest:
Natalie is an environmentalist, presenter, Board Director, climate and nature advisor, and Fortune 30 Under 30 honouree and one of LinkedIn’s “top green voices". Her first book, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction, has just come out.
Our new Women's Agenda Today format aims to break down some of the latest things we're covering on Women's Agenda and take a daily 'deep dive' into a key story with a newsmaker, a key expert source who can share a great women's perspective on a major story we're following, or a key contributor or journalist.
We're running Women's Agenda Daily as a pilot project for three months. Expect to see the format evolve over that time. You can share your feedback by getting in contact.
Check out more on the stories discussed today at Women's Agenda, where you can also sign up for our free daily newsletter.
You can support our work by becoming a Women's Agenda Member.
Women's Agenda Today is published by Agenda Media, the 100% female-owned and run publisher of Women's Agenda.
More episodes
View all episodes
AI's gendered harms and case for a feminist AI future
30:47|Dr Elise Stephenson joins Women's Agenda to unpack the gendered risks of AI, and why they're so urgent right now. Speaking with Angela Priestley, the conversation moves from how AI reinforces existing inequality (rather than inventing brand-new problems) to the most immediate real-world risks for women and gender-diverse people in workplaces today. Elise also outlines how AI could reshape relationships, abuse, and gender norms over time, including the role of LLMs and AI companions in subtly entrenching unhealthy dynamics.Then, we move on to the risks to democracy, including those playing out right now, especially impacting women's participation: the harassment, disinformation, and AI-generated abuse pushing women out of public life and politics, and the question of who is funding and coordinating those attacks. Finally, hope! Elise outlines what a feminist approach to AI actually looks like in practice, and closes with a clear call to action on Australia's guardrails and why it matters who is in the room when AI decisions get made.This conversation comes as Elise has also just published Space XX: Gender, Power and the New Space Race. See our published extract on how women astronauts were once seen as a liability, but research suggests they could actually have an edge. The Women's Agenda Podcast is produced by Agenda Media, publisher of Women's Agenda. Subscribe to our lunchtime daily news update here.Milestones, Silence isn't 'neutral', and HYROX horror
27:14|Our wrap of the biggest stories this week! As always, the wins: Hélène Huby raising a record $450 million for her European space company, the biggest round ever for an EU firm led by a female founder, and Australia cracking the top ten on the World Economic Forum's global gender equality rankings for the first time.Then, we dig into Ed Sheeran's claim of "neutrality" after Macklemore was dropped from his tour, then onto the HYROX incident and our obsession with pushing through and much more. This week's discussed stories include:Australia's record 8th place on gender equality is still no time for complacencyEd Sheeran claimed neutrality, then made the most political call of his careerThe HYROX poo incident exposes our obsession with pushing throughThe Sweeney ad isn't about sport, it's about who gets to profit from women's bodiesSubscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and head to womensagenda.com.au for the full stories.Paid for a 'mum's perspective'? Yes! | Also Raygun, and unpaid P&C women's work
41:14|This week at Women's Agenda: the women quietly holding the system together, and the men billing it.We start with two wins: the boys' school principal with a strong message on violence against women, and the federal government finally taking aim at social media algorithms — a decent step forward, if not yet done and dusted. Then we unpack ICAC evidence that a consultant was paid $10,000 a month for a "mum's perspective" and the twenty-something men with big dreams of transforming the right of the Liberal Party. We look at the invisible, unpaid — and overwhelmingly female — workforce propping up Australia's underfunded public schools through P&Cs. And, on a lighter note, our take on the Raygun documentary, This week's discussed stories include:Sydney mothers raise $3.5m to fund Australia's first neonatal MRI machineAustralia is taking aim at social media algorithms. Could it help protect women and girls?A consultant paid $10k a month for a 'mum's perspective', and '20-something guys dreaming big': ICAC delivers againThe invisible workforce propping up Australia's public schools through P&CsSubscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and head to womensagenda.com.au for the full stories.Professional women now outnumber blue-collar men. What does that mean for Australia?
23:21|Women's Agenda speaks with George Megalogenis about his new book Three Shocks: Who We Are Becoming in the 21st Century. The book traces how politics has failed to keep up with a changing Australia, including via one key shock -- that professional women are now the largest segment of the workforce, replacing blue-collar men. The three shocks have redefined politics in Australia and will continue to do so. Women's Agenda will be back with the usual Weekly Wrap next week! The Women's Agenda Podcast is produced by Agenda Media, publisher of Women's Agenda.Disrupting women's spaces, girls with "gin under their coats"
23:44|All the wins and the biggest conversations from the week that was. A record crowd at the SCG, a celebration of Dolly Parton who was so much more than the hits she created -- and she created a lot of brilliant hits. Then into a discussion on our three biggest stories: why are people throwing sex toys onto WNBA courts for a second season?Plus the comments blaming girls for "gin under their coats" when it comes to bad cultures at schools. And we look into the 400 jobs that have just been lost at KPMG's Australian office, where workers are paying the price for alleged misconduct at the top.This week's discussed stories include:Dolly Parton wrote the working woman's anthem. We'll always love herSex toys thrown again: the epidemic of attacks on women's sport seen in the WNBAAngus Taylor's wife Louise Clegg blames drunk teens and cavalier parents. The culture of Scots? Not so much.Almost 400 jobs go. The cost of KPMG's alleged misconduct and a culture that failedSubscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and head to womensagenda.com.au for the full stories.Scots, Swans and reputation management, here for the AFLW, Jacqui Lambie's epic speech
27:46|This week on Women's Agenda, the highs of the women's game and the very deep lows following the actions of men. Plus, all the language that skirts around the issues to protect reputations Still, there were the wins! Deborah Mailman becoming the first Aboriginal person inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame, and the AFLW roaring back with big double-header crowds (and six matches around men's grand final weekend). Then we unpack the Sydney Swans scandal, and the language that reflexively protects footballers. Jacqui Lambie leads the fight against the government's $5,000 cap on veterans' allied health -- and what it means for women veterans and the 2,500+ women in a military sexual-violence class action. And to cap it all off, the alarming new University of Melbourne research finds nearly one in three teen boys believe equality for women has "gone too far".This week's discussed stories include:Scots and Swans: The private school and the footy team with bigger responsibilities than reputation managementDeborah Mailman becomes first Aboriginal person inducted into Logies Hall of FameThe Sydney Swans scandal proves we still care more about footballers than the victimsOne in three teen boys believe giving women equal opportunities has gone too farSubscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and head to womensagenda.com.au for the full stories.A blokey problem, the 'have it all' debate ramps up, and pervert glasses
28:31|We talk through our biggest stories of the week! First up, two wins: three women-founded Australian companies nominated for the Prix Galien Awards (medicine's answer to the Nobel), and Tina Arena's grace-filled response to her ex-husband's rape conviction. Then the harder stories: AOC freezing her eggs and Karoline Leavitt stepping down, and how the "can women have it all" question just got supercharged again; why the Prime Minister needs to stop trying so hard to be one of the boys; and alarming new research showing smart glasses are being used to secretly film and harass women — plus DuckDuckGo's brilliant troll of Big Tech and such pervert glasses.
Why it's time to quit being nice
50:58|Special guest Amy Remeikis joins the podcast! The journalist and commentator has just published her new book Screw Nice, and she's here to share why continuing the expected pleasantries is not getting us anywhere.Amy also touches on the other book she published this year (yes, she's written two), Where It All Went Wrong: The Case Against John Howard. Screw Nice is a manifesto for anyone sick of the status quo. It's not a call to be mean or cruel, but rather to take the permission to quit being nice because it keeps other people comfortable and in power. Angela Priestley spoke to Amy in the lead-up to her appearance at the Byron Writers Festival, from August 14 to 16, 2026. Screw Nice is published by Hachette Australia and Where It All Went Wrong by Simon & Schuster. The Women's Agenda Podcast is produced by Agenda Media, publisher of Women's Agenda. Get all our latest stories here.Convicted, still can't be named. Massive health breakthrough, and AI beauty 'models'
30:55|In this week's wrap chat: who gets protected, who gets replaced, and who gets to leave on their own terms.We share the big wins: a new Alzheimer's blood test that could transform early detection for the women most at risk, and ACTU powerhouses Sally McManus and Michele O'Neil stepping down after a decade of hard-won rights — together, and without clinging to power. Then Angela unpacks the convicted Melbourne rapist who still can't be named, thanks to a suppression order protecting him. We mark Jacinta Allan's departure as Victorian premier, and her message to young women in politics. And we dig into the rise of the AI "model" — and what it means when the beauty standard is no longer even human.This week's discussed stories include:New Alzheimer's blood test could transform care for hundreds of thousands of Australian women at riskThey've won rights and fought big power together. Now Sally McManus and Michelle O'Neil are both stepping downA 'high profile' man has been convicted of rape, but still can't be named'This gig has been tough': Jacinta Allan steps down as premier, urges women to keep at politicsAI beauty tools and models are here, giving women even more impossible standardsSubscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and head to womensagenda.com.au to subscribe to our daily news update.