The Women's Podcast

The first week of August marks World Breastfeeding Week, which aims to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. Globally, Ireland has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates, with just over one third of mothers breastfeeding their newborn when they leave hospital and fewer than 6% of babies still breastfed exclusively at 6 months old. In this episode, broadcaster and "accidental" breastfeeding spokesperson Aoibhinn Ní Shúillebháin speaks to Róisín Ingle about the lactation supports needed for mothers, the world-wide marketing ploy that is follow-on milk and why the government need to fully fund and implement the National Maternity Strategy and the National Breastfeeding Action Plan in Budget 2022.We’re also joined by maternity care campaigner Emma Carroll, who set up the Facebook page In our shoes: Covid Pregnancy to highlight the unfair restrictions placed on expectant mothers and partners in Ireland’s maternity hospitals. Carroll tells Ingle about her own experience of giving birth in a pandemic, about the stories she’s hearing from other mothers and why she says it’s unacceptable that you can have a meal in a pub with your partner but must go through the maternity process alone.

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In 1998, a fresh-faced 16-year-old Britney Spears became an overnight global superstar with the release of her debut single Baby One More Time. She went on to sell over 150 million records, win multiple awards and gain a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But for nearly half of Spears’ impressive career, the singer hasn’t had full control over her life. For the last thirteen years, she has been under a conservatorship controlled by her father, which gives him the legal right to make decisions on her finances, work commitments, health and personal life. This summer, Spears has been fighting the conservatorship in court, describing the details of her life in a harrowing testimony which shocked fans around the world. In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle speaks to Kimberly Wehle, Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore about the details of her conservatorship battle and to journalist Louise Bruton about the life and career of America’s biggest pop star.

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In this episode, we are bringing you a conversation from our Big Night In series of events, which took place in late 2020. On a cold Winter's evening, Róisín Ingle was joined on Zoom by former state pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy in front of a live virtual audience. Cassidy spoke about her very unconventional career choice, the unexpected fame that came with it and the Irish obsession with death.

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In this episode Róisín talks to author Ethel Rohan, who describes herself as “a kind of a queen of uncomfortable stories”. Rohan has written a number of short story collections and a novel. Her latest book, In the Event of Contact, is a collection of 14 stories set in Ireland, England, and America about abuse survivors who turn their trauma into power.

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Art historian Catherine McCormack recently published her book, ’Women in the Picture: Women Art and the Power of Looking’. In it, she argues that women's identity has long been stifled by woeful narratives and a limited set of archetypes. In this episode, Catherine speaks to Róisín Ingle about how studying art has shaped her feminism, why history fooled us into thinking there were no female artists in the past, the idea of the monstrosity of the female body in art and lots more.

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After more than a year working remotely, socialising on zoom and staring at the four walls of our own houses, the thought of getting back out into the world can seem a little daunting. While the reopening of society brings with it the chance to meet friends, eat out and reunite with loved ones, it can also bring a sense of uncertainty and social anxiety. For some of us, FOMO - the fear of missing out - has been replaced with FOJI - the fear of joining in. To discuss the difficulties, logistics and etiquette of getting back out there, Róisín Ingle is joined by Irish Times columnists Jennifer O’Connell and Laura Kennedy and Helen Vaughan, psychotherapist and owner of Maynooth Counselling.

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Last week, author Marian Keyes joined Roisin Ingle live on Zoom, for a post-pandemic beauty chat in association with Clarins. In front of a virtual audience, the pair spoke about online cosmetic discoveries during the last very strange year, products they relied on to keep their spirits up, new post-pandemic beauty trends and the joy of letting yourself go.

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With her book ‘Shy: How being quiet can lead to success’, author and journalist Annie Ridout has written a practical guide which teaches us to recognise shyness as a gift and something to be embraced, rather than fixed. Róisín talks to Ridout and our co-producer Suzanne Brennan, who is a shy person, about this often misunderstood attribute. Also in this episode: My Expert Midwife founder and One Born Every Minute star, Lesley Gilchrist, talks to our co-producer Jennifer Ryan about the importance of self-care for women after giving birth and how the pandemic has obliterated new mothers’ usual support networks.

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On today’s show Róisín chats to one of Ireland’s leading trans activists, Sara R Phillips, chair of the Transgender Equality Network Ireland and a board member of the National Women’s Council of Ireland, about what it means to be transgender in Ireland today. In a wide-ranging conversation, Sara addresses some of the common questions people may have, she dispels a few trans myths, shares stories from her own life, and lots more.https://www.teni.ie/https://www.belongto.org/

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Yesterday, survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes heard from one of the members of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, when professor Mary Daly spoke publicly about the Commission’s work at an online event organised by Oxford University. To date, none of the Commission members have gone before the Oireachtas or given a press conference following the publication of its lengthy report in January. On today’s episode, Tuam mother and baby home survivor Teresa O’Sullivan, Maeve O’Rourke of the Clann Project and Irish Times political correspondent Jennifer Bray talk to Róisín Ingle about this latest development.

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