The Women's Podcast

Following her own brilliant short story collection Multitudes, Lucy Caldwell has guest edited the sixth volume of Faber's long running series of new Irish short stories. This collection is called Being Various and it includes stories by writers living on both sides of the Irish border - Sally Rooney, Jan Carson, Kit de Waal, Lisa McInerney and Kevin Barry to name a few - in a bid to capture the energy of Irish writing, from crime to magical realism, and everything in between. On today's show Lucy talks to Róisín about why she feels we are in a golden age of writing in Ireland and how she came to choose the stories in Being Various.

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First: A new report has found that thousands of women who are currently "on home duties" represent a major source of untapped potential in terms of addressing skills shortages. The research, carried out by the state's further education and training authority SOLAS, shows that of the 218,000 women between the ages of 20 and 64 who are not currently participating in the workforce, 16,000 could potentially be attracted to return to work with supports such as flexible working models and training courses. Nikki Gallagher from SOLAS and Joan McNaboe, who authored this report, talk to Róisín about the findings.Later: More than 500 women are running in the upcoming local elections and around 40 per cent of those who have declared for the European elections are female candidates. Have the recent referendums on the 8th Amendment and marriage equality inspired some of the first time women candidates to have a go at mainstream politics? Socialist Party candidate for Europe and Dublin City Council Rita Harrold, Green Party local election hopeful Hazel Chu and Rachael Prendergast-Spollen, who is running for People Before Profit in Dublin, talk to Róisín about this and more.

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On today's show, Róisín talks to Bollywood superstar Yami Gautam. The Indian actor’s latest film – the 2019 blockbuster Uri: The Surgical Strike – is currently the highest grossing film in Indian cinema so far this year, but it was the critically acclaimed romantic comedy Vicki Donor that made her a household name in 2012. Yami talks to Róisín about women in her country and the Me Too movement, her unlikely start in Bollywood and, if you can credit it, cricket’s EuroT20 Slam competition.

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In the last decade, the Irish author Tana French has become known for her brilliant crime thrillers narrated by various police in Dublin’s fictional Murder Squad, who tended to be outsiders in some way. In her latest book, the Wych Elm, she has done something a little bit different. Regular book clubbers on the Women's Podcast Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey and Ann Ingle join Róisín to discuss the book that Stephen King called 'extraordinary' in his review in the New York Times.Plus: Ciara Kenny, acting editor of the Irish Times Magazine talks to Róisín about her first few weeks in the role and makes some reading and listening recommendations.Next time on the Women's Podcast Book Club, How to Fail, but Elizabeth Day.

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This weekend (3rd-6th of May) the All Woman’s long boat team from St Michael’s rowing club in Dun Laoghaire will be one of two teams from the club competing in the Celtic Challenge race from the coast of Ireland to the coast of Wales.The race is a biennial event covering the 155 kilometre distance from Arklow in Wexford to Aberystwyth in Wales and the St Michael's All Woman’s team will be hoping to retain their title from the last race in 2017.On today's show four women from the crew, Liz O’Toole, Martina Doyle, Simone Sav and Liz Doyle, talk to Róisín about the grueling 26-hour Celtic Challenge and what possessed them to sign up to it.Follow the St Michael's rowers progress online:Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dunlaoghairerowing/ Twitter - @RowDunLaoghaire

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Jan Carson is a writer and community arts officer based in Belfast. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears, was published in 2014 followed by a short story collection, Children’s Children, in 2016. Her latest novel, The Fire Starters, is a dark, propulsive and original tale of fierce familial love and sacrifice, fizzing with magic and wonder. On today’s show she talks to Róisín about magic realism in her writing, her love of Belfast and the complexities of identity in Northern Ireland, her community work and more.

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Mary Pat Kelly, named one of the Top 100 Irish Americans, is an author and a documentary filmmaker. She has also worked in TV on the show Good Morning America and once trained as a nun. Born and raised in Chicago, she lives on New York's Upper West Side with her husband the app developer Martin Sheerin, originally from County Tyrone. Mary was in Ireland recently to speak about her latest book – a novel called Irish Above All – and she came in to speak to Róisín Ingle while she was here. They talk about Mary's Irish roots, Trump and her friendship with the Italian American film director Martin Scorsese, who encouraged her to write about her heritage.

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Young And Trans In Rural Ireland is a new resource that has just been launched by Youth Work Ireland to be used by those who work with young people and in schools, in order to make them the best trans allies they can be and to make Ireland more trans-inclusive. Julie James has personal experience of life as a young trans woman in rural Kildare and in this podcast she talks to Róisín about her life and how this Youth Work Ireland resource can help to make things better for trans people in Ireland.Plus: Irish Times journalists Bernice Harrison and Amy O'Connor tell us what's on their culture radar this week. Amy had the difficult job of getting up early to watch the Beyoncé documentary, Homecoming, and reports that it's everything she dreamed of and more. Bernice has some film and podcast recommendations and considers a move to Copenhagen for their progressive bike culture.

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Award-winning Irish Times reporter Rosita Boland traveled to India recently with her colleague, this paper's photo editor Brenda Fitzsimons, to investigate waste pickers and innovative recycling projects taking place in Bangalore.One part of what they discovered during their time there was the shocking story of a multi-billion euro industry in the city’s slums, where human hair is a valuable commodity that fetches a high price in beauty salons in the west.Rosita spoke to Kathy about the trip, which was financed by the Simon Cumbers Media Fund.

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In 2009, at the height of the recession, Geraldine Swarbrigg and her daughter Jane decided to start a new business. Together they brought the cosmetics brand Inglot to Ireland and ten years on - with Jane's brother Peter also part of the family business - the company employs 300 people, is expanding at breakneck speed and has just announced an exciting new partnership with Next in the UK.On today's show, Geraldine and Jane speak to Kathy about all of this, they also explain what the “lipstick factor” means in economic terms, Jane recalls her attempt at upstaging Jennifer Lopez in Las Vegas and they talk about Geraldine's husband Tommy Swarbrigg, the former Eurovision star.Plus: Róisín reports on her first week using a standy-uppy desk at work.

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