The Women's Podcast

In today’s show, Roisin Ingle speaks to the Irish-Nigerian journalist, author and academic Emma Dabiri about her book Don’t Touch My Hair. The book is about the history of black people’s hair and for Emma, this story begins with an upbringing in Ireland where her hair was a “constant source of deep, deep shame”. Emma, who lives in London, talks to Róisín about growing up in inner city Dublin, why she had a lot of anger towards Ireland when she left and why she believes Michelle Obama would never have made it to the White House if she had an afro.

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In her latest book, Home Grown: How Domestic Violence Turns Men Into Terrorists, Joan Smith writes that the violence perpetrated by men against women – whether it is sexual, physical, psychological, or all of the above – creates terror but is not recognised as a form of terrorism. In today's podcast she speaks to Kathy about how this link was identified decades ago, but never acted upon.Later: Róisín talks to newly elected Labour councillor Annie Hoey about the gendered questions she has faced about her private life since running in the recent local elections.Plus: Róisín and Kathy discuss sports bras, Kylie Jenner and free public transport for women in India.

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Award-winning Irish Times reporter Rosita Boland has been enthralled by travel ever since gazing out at the Atlantic Ocean near her childhood home. In the last 30 years she has visited some of the most remote parts of the globe carrying little more than a battered rucksack and a diary. Now she has written a book about some of the stories from those adventures, Elsewhere. She shares some of them with Róisín and tells her what's next on her travel itinerary.

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France will host the Fifa Women's World Cup for the first time when the tournament kicks off tomorrow – Friday 7th June. Ireland and Arsenal footballer Louise Quinn tells Róisín who to look out for.Also today: Irish Times business journalist Laura Slattery on sexist advertising, the Spice Girls and the French Open.Plus: At their AGM this week, the National Women’s Council of Ireland brought together newly elected women councillors, and others who were unsuccessful this time, for a discussion about their campaigns, their leadership journey, barriers for women to enter into politics and their vision for change. Jennifer Ryan went along.

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As a nine-year-old girl, French author Adélaïde Bon was raped by a stranger in the stairwell of the affluent Parisian block of flats where she lived. Now her memoir, The Little Girl on the Ice Floe, has been translated into English, telling the story of the rape she suffered that day and the self-harm and self-hatred that followed. Most movingly, though, it captures the way Adélaïde’s pain was hidden from her family and friends through the decades that followed, until the day that she received the phone call from the police detective on the case, informing her that the perpetrator had been arrested, a man who had spent decades in France, but also across Europe, targeting girls. On today's show, Adélaïde speaks to Jennifer Ryan about writing the book, the power of rage and her hope that her book can be of help to other victims of sexual assault.

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What is rewilding? Well, it’s an adventure that exists somewhere between a holistic retreat in the wilderness and an uncivilised summer school, designed to re-kindle our connection to our untamed nature. On today's show Róisín talks to Carol McInerney a movement therapist and meditation teacher, Siobhan de Paor, a poet and performance artist, and Kathy Scott of the Trailblzery, about Solstice, a one-day rewilding event in the Dublin mountains. Plus - Irish Times features writer and columnist, Jennifer O'Connell, talks to Róisín about what's on her culture radar and her recent column which tackled the thoroughly unsexy thorny topic of domestic duties.

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Executive Director of Oxfam International Winnie Byanyima talks to the Women's Podcast about her early life growing up in Uganda during the regime of Idi Amin, her activism at university which led her to flee to England, the role she played in writing the country’s constitution and her work on global gender inequality. Ms Byanyima has just begun her second term as Executive Director of Oxfam International and she speaks to the Women’s Podcast about the work they do. She also talks about the sexual exploitation scandal involving some of Oxfam’s staff in Haiti which came to light last year and how the charity is still working to recover from the fallout.

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This time last year we were gearing up for May 25th, the date of the referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment. It was a momentous time, so today the Women’s Podcast looks back, forward and outward. This episode focuses on what has happened in Ireland in the past year and what needs to happen next. It also looks at the situation in Northern Ireland where abortion is still illegal, the United States where there has been a dangerous row back on women’s reproductive rights under President Trump and to other places like Malta and Argentina.Joining Róisín to discuss this is Sorcha Tunney from Amnesty Ireland, on the phone from New York pro-choice activist and journalist Katha Pollitt and Orla O’Connor, director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland, Time Woman of the Year and one of the leaders of Together For Yes.Plus: Róisín talks to Belfast actor Amy Molloy and Welsh writer Rachel Tresize about their play Cotton Fingers. Set in Belfast it tells the story of a young woman making the journey to Wales to access free NHS abortion care.

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On today's show, Kathy talks to acrobats Molly Keczan and Glory Dearling - AKA The Silver Starlets – about how they got into their line of work, what it's like to be women street performers and their participation in the Laya Healthcare City Spectacular, which returns to Dublin and Cork this July.Later: Róisín meets architect and interior designer Denise O’Connor, who runs her own design consultancy, Optimise Design.

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566 out of a total of 1,960 candidates running in next week’s local elections are women. That’s 29 per cent and marks an increase of more 100 on the 2014 local elections – or just shy of 22 per cent. So, progress is being made, but is it happening quickly enough? Kathy talks to Women for Election chief executive, Ciairín de Búis.Later: We meet three more women who are entering politics for the first time in the local elections on May 24th. Kathy talks to Grace McManus who is running for Sinn Féin in Wicklow, Fianna Fáil candidate for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, Olivia Buckley and Lorraine Hall, who is on the ballot for Fine Gael, also in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.

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