Millennial pop culture has a lot to answer for. From Britney Spears' sexy schoolgirl outfit to an underage Kate Moss on the cover of Vogue and Paris Hilton in pube-skimming velvet tracksuits, the message was clear — being hot, sexy and desirable meant #girlpower.

So how did we all buy into the lie that self-objectification is empowerment?

Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist Sophie Gilbert says the Spice Girls, Demi Moore, Britney Spears and the Kardashians all had a role to play in how we feel about ourselves as women.

Sophie chats to Yumi Stynes about how pop culture turned a generation of women against themselves and what we can do about it.

What to listen to next:

Emotional labour with Rose Hackman

Clare and Jessie Stephens on twinning, pregnancy and envy

Has Ozempic killed body inclusivity?

Are our boys ok? Fighting online misogyny with Kate Scott

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:  

Why Kate chose to 'stay flat' after breast cancer surgery

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

This episode will answer questions like: 

• What were the messages being sent about womanhood in the 1990s and 2000s? 
• How did the Spice Girls rise to popularity? 
• What did the term ‘girl power’ mean? 
• How did pop culture impact body image and fashion? 
• What did pop culture teach us about women’s sexuality? 
• What is pop culture today teaching us about womanhood? 

This episode contains references to sexuality, pop culture, music, performance, girl, woman, gender, gender roles, Britney Spears, Kate Moss, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, the Spice Girls, Pamela Anderson, body image, thinness, beauty, capitalism, entertainment industry. 

What’s it like to switch teams mid-season? Nicola was married to a man for 25 years before she fell in love with a woman. Jennifer and Marija were in their 40s when everything they knew about their sexuality changed.  

Yumi Stynes chats to later-in-life lesbians to hear what they’ve learned from swapping sides. She also gets the low-down on sexuality research across the life span, and why so many women are coming out in their second act. 

What to listen to next:

How swapping a husband for a wife made this economist better off

Where's my village? Esther Perel on how to build community

Will we ever have a cure for endometriosis?

Hacking online dating with Prof. Jennie Young

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:  

Why Kate chose to 'stay flat' after breast cancer surgery

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

This episode will answer questions like: 

• What’s it like to fall in love with a woman in middle age? 
• Are some women straight and then turn gay? 
• How common is bisexuality? 
• How fluid is sexuality? 
• What does it feel like to have sex with a woman for the first time? 

This episode contains references to sexuality, family, mother, parenting relationships, lesbian, gay, straight, sex, orgasm, religion. 

MasterChef’s Julie Goodwin has a bubbly exterior but underneath are demons she’s fought for decades.  

The celebrity cook opens up to Yumi Stynes about the anxiety and depression she’s kept hidden for so long, and how it almost undid her. 

Julie’s path to recovery wasn’t straight, but she learnt how to manage what she calls the ‘monster under the bed’ and change her life for the better.  

If you need someone to talk to, call:

Lifeline on 13 11 14  

Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467  

Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36  

Headspace on 1800 650 890  

What to listen to next:

Mental health: Overcoming depression

Love ya guts! What to eat to feel your best

Body image and babies with Turia Pitt and Sophie Walker

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:  

Why Kate chose to 'stay flat' after breast cancer surgery

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

This episode will answer questions like: 

• What does anxiety feel like? 
• What does depression feel like? 
• How can childhood experiences impact mental health? 
• How did Julie Goodwin recover from a mental breakdown? 
• What can I do to improve my mental health? 
• What is it like to stay in a psychiatric hospital? 
• How can I cultivate joy? 
• How can mental health impact relationships? 

This episode contains references to anxiety, depression, alcohol, addiction, exercise, health, mental health, psychology, MasterChef Australia. 

If you've ever been with a guy who thinks jackhammering is a virtue or who can't tell your clitoris from your clavicle, this episode is for you! (Pssst share it with a bloke you know).

Yumi Stynes chats to comedian and expert dater Nikki Britton about what makes for good sex.

Plus, sex therapist Aleks Trkulja, from The Pleasure Centre, gives tips on how to take on feedback in the bedroom.

This episode will answer questions like: 

• What do women want in sex? 
• How are women and men’s sexual desires different? 
• What can I do to increase arousal? 
• What are common turn offs? 
• What are the fundamental elements of good sex? 

What to listen to next:

Is everyone having better sex than me?

The new way to date

Will we ever have a cure for endometriosis?

Shedding the shame of herpes

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:

Why Kate chose to 'stay flat' after breast cancer surgery

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

This episode contains references to sex, gender, men, women, clitoris, mental load, marriage, sex life, therapy, masturbation.

Dr Corrine Low says heterosexual relationships are costing women financially. And she’s got the life experience and the data to back it up.  

When Corrine was married to a man and a new mum, she was the main breadwinner, shouldering the domestic load...and she was FED UP.  

Corrine’s research has found that even though we’re doing more paid work than ever, women still do most of the unpaid labour at home and it’s hurting our back pocket (and our feelings).  

Dr Low talks to Yumi Stynes about practical ways for women to have more equal relationships, share the mental load and connect our romantic and financial decisions. 

This episode will answer questions like: 

• What is domestic labour? 
• Do women do more work at home than men? 
• How can we create more equal families? 
• How does work gender inequality impact relationships? 
• What is mum burn out? 
• What can you do to distribute the mental load fairly? 

What to listen to next: 

Emotional labour with Rose Hackman

Turia Pitt is a selfish woman

Mental health: Anxiety and how to beat it

Has Ozempic killed body inclusivity?

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:  

Why Kate chose to 'stay flat' after breast cancer surgery

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

This episode contains references to gender roles, family, relationship, men, mental load, domestic labour, utility, having it all, children, parenting, child care, work life balance, mental health. 

Esther Perel is on a mission to make us feel less alone. The world renowned psychotherapist says we've lost touch with the village but she's here to help us reconnect. 

Esther chats to Yumi Stynes about how to foster a community and stop putting pressure on romantic partners to fulfil our needs. She shares her own story of seeing her parents build a village as refugees, and how she learnt to lean on her chosen people when her family needed it most.     

If you’re feeling isolated or just want to bolster your community, this episode offers practical way to find and maintain your village.   

This episode will answer questions like: 

• What is a village?
• How can I build a village?
• How does having a strong community impact romantic relationships?
• How did Esther Perel build a strong community?
• What's at stake when we don't have a village?
• How can we all combat loneliness?
• How do we ask for help?

What to listen to next: 

Deepa Paul on opening her marriage

Emotional labour with Rose Hackman

Relationship resuscitation — coming back from the brink

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:  

Building a village means showing up even when it feels hard, says Esther Perel

Why Kate chose to 'stay flat' after breast cancer surgery

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

This episode contains references to Esther Perel, village, community, friends, romantic relationship, marriage, resentment, therapy, couples therapy, Mating in Captivity, Where Should We Begin, personality styles, extroversion, introversion, love language.

We’re told boobs are sexy! Bouncy! Nutritious food banks even! But what happens when they betray you? 

Every year in Australia, around 20,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Forty per cent of those will need a mastectomy, surgery to have the breast tissue removed. Some of those women will choose not reconstruct, to stay "flat."

Yumi Stynes speaks to "flatties" about their relationship with their new bodies. You'll hear from women who've had one or both breasts removed about how their decision has reshaped their sex lives and body image and how they've found hope in new forms.

If you've got boobs, or know someone who does, this episode will make you question how you think about them. 

Featured in this episode: 

• Dr Charlotte Tottman, psycho-oncologist  

Useful links:

Upfront About Breast Cancer – What You Don't Know Until You Do, with Dr Charlotte Tottman

Breast Cancer Network Australia

So Brave Breast Cancer Charity

Mastectomy: Breast Surgery and Recovery

What to listen to next: 

Will we ever have a cure for endometriosis?

Embracing imperfection was the key to Astrid’s success

Getting to the bottom of IBS

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:  

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

Why genital herpes does not mean the end of your sex life

This episode contains references to breast cancer, going flat, staying flat, flatties, reconstruction, surgery, chemotherapy, body image, femininity, boobs, psychology, mental health, gender. 

When she was 16, Pub Choir's Astrid Jorgensen wanted to be a nun. So how did she end up in pubs, night after night, teaching people to sing?

For years, Astrid felt like she didn't belong to the world of music. But she found her way in, on her terms. Astrid was never going to be an elite Opera singer, but in rediscovering the joy of singing for the sake of it, she invited the world to sing along too.

Astrid has fused her unique talents together to create Pub Choir — the largest choir in the world. She teaches everyday punters to sing a three-part harmony, where the audience becomes the performers.

Yumi Stynes sits down with Astrid for a candid conversation about the messiness of life, how she found her voice and began singing to her own tune.

What to listen to next: 

Turia Pitt is a selfish woman

Mental health: Anxiety and how to beat it

Will we ever have a cure for endometriosis?

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

Why genital herpes does not mean the end of your sex life

This episode contains references to Pub Choir, Bulimia, Backstreet Boys, Cher, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Africa, Cranberries, Zombie, Dolores O’Riordan, Toto, Average at Best, music teacher, spiritual quest, religion, abusive teacher, music, audiation, sensory, senses, conducting, choir, crowd, stage.

Up to one in five people have irritable bowel syndrome and women are three times as likely to be affected. From bloating, cramping, constipation and diarrhea, the symptoms can be debilitating, let alone make it hard to do up a pair of jeans! 

Even though IBS is so common, there’s no cure. But there’s increasing research about the best ways to manage symptoms - from the low FODMAP diet to managing anxiety to live a better and less gassy life.  

Featured in this episode: 

• Associate Professor Jess Biesiekierski from the University of Melbourne

IBS participant study https://www.gutresearchstudy.com.

What to listen to next:  

Calling out wellness bullsh*t with Dr Jen Gunter

Sandwich generation — the women looking after everyone

Mental health: Overcoming depression

Mental health: Anxiety and how to beat it

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:   

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

Why genital herpes does not mean the end of your sex life

This episode will answer questions like: 

• What is IBS? 
• What does IBS feel like? 
• How do you know you have IBS? 
• How can you manage IBS? 
• Can you cure IBS? 
• How is the mind and gut connected? 
• What does stress have to do with IBS? 

This episode contains references to IBS, irritable bowl syndrome, HotGirlsHaveIBS , leaky gut, pain, gut pain, faecal transplants, anxiety, mental health, therapy, microbiome, FODMAP, diet, mind gut connection.

With "wellness" advice from influencers flooding our feeds, it's hard to sort fact from absolute nonsense and know what to eat to feel good.

Enter Laureate Professor in nutrition and dietetics, Clare Collins. Yumi sits down with Clare to get the low down on the good stuff we should be eating on and the nasty stuff we should avoid. How much protein is enough? Is fibre a big deal? Are probiotics bulls*#t?

This episode will help you turn down the noise on nonsense diet trends and listen to what your guts are telling you.

What to listen to next: 

Calling out wellness bullsh*t with Dr Jen Gunter

Stepmums: Why do they get such a hard time?

Endometriosis: Pain, periods, medical gaslighting

Clare and Jessie Stephens on twinning, pregnancy and envy

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.  

What to read next:  

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

What loving someone with an addiction or dependence can look like

The dark side of being a perfectionist

Why genital herpes does not mean the end of your sex life

This episode will answer questions like:  

• What is your gut? 
• How does your gut affect your mood? 
• Is your gut connected to your mental health? 
• What is your microbiome?  
• How do you keep your microbiome healthy? 
• How much fibre do women need? 
• How much protein do women need? 
• What are emulsifiers?  
• What foods are bad for the gut? 
• How does the mind-gut connection work? 
• What is the connection between the gut and dementia? 
• What is the Mediterranean diet? 
• What is the MIND diet? 

This episode contains references to microbiome, diet, diet culture, emulsifiers, fibre, protein, women's health, influencers, menopause, depression, anxiety, bacteria, Mediterranean diet, vegetables, processed food, FODMAP.