The Women's Podcast

Ep 357 Book Club: The Dutch House / Irish Composer Emer KinsellaThe Book Club is back and this time Róisín Ingle, Bernice Harrison, Ann Ingle and Niamh Towey are chatting about The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. The book tells the story of two siblings, Danny and Maeve Conroy, and how their lives unfold over the course of five decades. Also Róisín Ingle chats with Irish violinist Emer Kinsella about her life in Hollywood, California, where she works as a composer, scoring music for the big screen.

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In today’s episode we’re joined by the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, Elizabeth Strout, who has just released her new book, ‘Olive Again’. It’s the much anticipated sequel to her best seller ‘Olive Kitteridge’ which was released in 2008. After eleven years, we’re thrown back into the chaos of Olive’s life as she adapts to changes within herself and the world around her.Elizabeth explains to Róisín Ingle how Olive’s fiery character appeared to her as she emptied the dishwasher, why she kept writing even when the publishers weren’t interested and how her isolated childhood growing up in Maine on America’s East Coast shaped her view on the world.Also, Irish Times journalist Jennifer O'Connell is in studio to discuss the Chilean feminist anthem taking the world by storm and the content moderators who are suing Facebook Ireland for psychological injuries.

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Megan Phelps Roper was born into the Westboro Baptist Church, a small Kansas based ministry which garnered world-wide condemnation for their anti-gay protests and pickets at 9/11 memorials and soldier’s funerals. Megan spoke to Róisín Ingle about her new memoir, Unfollow, which details her early life in the church, why her family celebrate tragedy and death and what inspired her to leave it all behind. Also, women’s rights campaigner Tatjana Latinovic was in Dublin recently to speak at the ‘Practical Steps to Workplace Equality Conference’ organised by the charity Dress for Success. Tatjana is the chair of the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association and spoke to Kathy Sheridan about how Iceland has become known as a gender equality paradise and how the historical women’s day off in 1975, when 90% of women in Iceland went on strike, put them at the forefront of the fight for equal rights.

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As we wrap up Food Month here in The Irish Times, we’re joined in studio by award winning chefs Michel Roux Jr. and Margot Janse. The pair travelled to Dublin recently to judge the Euro-Toques Ireland Young Chef of the Year 2019 Competition, which was won by Gráinne Mullins, a head pastry chef at Galway restaurant Lignum. Margo has enjoyed a lengthy career in South Africa working as a head chef in her women dominated restaurant kitchen Le Quartier Français and now focuses her time on her charity Isabelo, Feeding Hungry Minds. Michel, was once a judge on BBC’s Masterchef and runs legendary Le Gavroche, a Michelin Star restaurant in London. They spoke to Róisín Ingle about the cut-throat culture in restaurant kitchens and the challenges faced by female chefs as they try to succeed in male dominated environments.Also Bernice Harrison tells Kathy why she won’t be partaking in the upcoming Black Friday madness and explains why Bikram Yoga is back in the news.

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In today’s episode, we examine what life is like for women living in the Gaza Strip, in southern Palestine. Róisín Ingle spoke to Mona Al Shawa and Hala Riziq, who travelled over to Dublin recently with Trócaire for some respite and to share their experiences with Irish people. Both have made it their life’s mission to defend women’s rights in a place where violent conflict and an oppressive patriarchy make “double victims” of women and girls : Hala works in development and gender based violence, while Mona is the Director of the Women’s Rights Unit of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

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In today’s episode, Tanya Sweeney tells Roisín Ingle why the opening of an Oliver Bonas store in Dublin is bad news for our wallets. (She spent too much on a neon rainbow lamp. What? It sparked joy!) They also discuss that car crash Prince Andrew interview and after encouraging us all to de-clutter our homes, ask why is Marie Kondo now selling her own home-ware range? Also on this episode, Roisín speaks to Alison O’Connor and co-founders of the Together For Yes Campaign, Ailbhe Smyth and Orla O’Connor. Together with Gráinne Griffin, they have written It’s a Yes! ; a new book which reveals the inner workings of that historic women-led campaign.

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Last week The Women’s Podcast left behind the usual surrounds of the studio for a live recording in House on Leeson Street, with thanks to our sponsors Green & Black's. Marian Keyes was the special guest on the night and treated the live audience to an exclusive excerpt of her brand new book Grown Ups. Marian also spoke about her love of the dark winter nights, why she keeps turning down Dancing With The Stars and how she feels about Ireland in 2019. She also gave some exclusive news about a new book she's just started writing.

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In this episode, Róisin speaks to entrepreneur, author and ground breaking business leader, Margaret Heffernan. As the former CEO of five businesses, Margaret shares her incredible insight into the complexities of how an organisation works. Having spent a lot of her career focusing on the role of women in business and leadership roles, Margaret also speaks about how women can positively change the workplace culture and how helpfulness is the key to any happy working environment. Also, Roisín and Kathy discuss the recent Irish Times articles concerning Ana Kriégel; the first written by Orla Muldoon who's headline read ‘Ana Kriégel was murdered by boys because she was a girl’ and the second written by Kathy herself.

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In this episode we are joined by former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power. The Dublin born academic and author talked to Kathy Sheridan about how she became one of the most powerful women in American Foreign Affairs and discussed her acclaimed memoir The Education of An Idealist. Power also goes back to her difficult childhood in Dublin and the custody battle which led to her, aged 9, leaving Ireland and making a home in America with her mother and brother. She talks about Trump, Barack Obama and what gives her hope in a turbulent world.

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Today we’ve dedicated the podcast to Gay Byrne - the legendary broadcaster who died on Monday 4th November - and specifically to his impact on women in Ireland. Most of the listeners to his radio show were women, he regularly made space for women on both radio and on The Late Late Show, allowing their voices to be amplified on topics such as divorce, sex, religion, contraception and feminism. He allowed Ireland to see women in a way that challenged the pervasive view in the 19709s and 1980s. One of the many women who spoke about these issues on the Late Late was Ann Marie Hourihane who appears on this episode. Both Women’s Podcast host Roisin Ingle and Ann Marie are super fans of Gay, and are both very sad at the loss of him this week. To some degree this is a bit of a Gay Byrne love in but much more than that it’s a look back at the part Gay played in changing society, particularly for women in allowing these important conversations to take place.

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