The Women's Podcast

Would you sleep in a different room to your partner? Or do you think couples should share a bed together? That's what we’re asking on today’s episode of The Women’s Podcast. While many people enjoy sharing a bed with their other half, there are many others who prefer to go solo when it comes to sleep. This could be for reasons including loud snoring, a partner tossing and turning in the night or even a disagreement over what temperature the room should be. While there’s still a stigma attached to going your separate ways at bedtime, Australian writer Jennifer Adams argues there shouldn’t be.

Happily married and sleeping apart from her husband for more than two decades, Adams has literally written the book on separate sleeping and in today’s episode she tells Róisín Ingle why it’s not only possible but easily attainable, to have both a great night’s sleep and a great relationship. She also shares some tips from her book ‘Sleep Divorce: How to sleep apart, not fall apart, which will help you to broach the subject with your partner or figure out how to make it work with limited space. 

But first, Irish Times journalist Niamh Browne is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including yesterday’s shooting in Fermanagh, the average cost of IVF for Irish couples and why Irish radio should be playing more female artists.

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In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by women’s health and fitness coach Elaine Gillespie, to talk about the transformative power of lifting weights and strength training. From navigating fitness during perimenopause to returning to exercise postpartum, Gillespie explains why lifting weights isn’t just for bodybuilders - it’s essential for women’s health, energy, and confidence at every stage of life. The pair discuss gym intimidation, how to get started if you’re a total beginner, and how to tell the difference between your dumbbell and your barbell. Gillespie also shares her own personal fitness journey following the birth of her two children and why she left her career as an estate agent to set up the Kildare based fitness group, Sound Mamas. 

But first, Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connell is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including a quick de-brief on the two women hoping to become the next Irish president and why the lyrics of CMAT’s latest song are resonating with so many.

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Anne Marie Allen was just 15 years old when she first entered the world of Opus Dei. It was the late 1970s and the young woman from Cork had enrolled in a cookery course run by the religious order. The program promised culinary qualifications and a pathway to a professional career, but it didn’t take long for her dreams to shatter. As Allen spent most of her days cooking, cleaning and doing laundry for the members of Opus Dei, it soon became clear that she was not there to learn, but to serve. In today’s episode, Allen talks to Kathy Sheridan about her time working as an unpaid ‘assistant numerary’, the lasting emotional impact of her years within the order and why she's sharing her story in her new memoir Serve. 

But first Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connell is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including the completion of five external reviews into maternity care at Portiuncula University Hospital, what we can learn from Rachel Reeve’s tears in Westminster and why the happiness levels of women often dip in midlife.

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This month, actor and mother and baby home survivor Noelle Brown and singer Camille O’Sullivan will take to the stage together for a new theatre performance called In Plain Sight. The project, written by Brown, focuses on Ireland’s history of mother and baby homes, paying particular attention to the large stately buildings dotted around the country that incarcerated young pregnant women. In today’s episode, the pair join Róisín Ingle to discuss the show and how it explores the design and history of three homes that are still standing, Sean Ross Abbey, Castlepollard and Bessborough Mother and Baby Home (where Brown was born).

But first, Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connell is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including the arrest of former swimming coach George Gibney.

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Concerns about the rise and rapid development of artificial intelligence often tend to focus on AI’s threat to jobs or its potential to influence politics and elections. But what about the very real threat that AI poses to women? In her new book, The New Age of Sexism, feminist writer Laura Bates explores how the ever-evolving world of technology has become a danger to women and how the expanding scope of what’s possible online is “reinventing misogyny.” In this episode, Bates talks to Róisín Ingle about the real harm caused by pornographic deepfakes, the alarming rise of AI girlfriends, and her eye-opening visit to a cyber brothel in Berlin.

But first Irish Times journalist Niamh Towey is here to talk about some of the biggest stories of the week including the new Women's Aid report showing the rise in domestic violence disclosures, the latest in the Annie McCarrick case and the furore over the Bezos wedding in Venice.

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Last weekend our Book Club gathered for a live show at Kildare Village to discuss the best reading recommendations for summer 2025. Róisín Ingle, Bernice Harrison and Ann Ingle were joined at the event by special guest bestselling author Marian Keyes and a room full of Women’s Podcast listeners. 

There were recommendations to suit every style and every mood, including a gripping crime thriller, a “life-changing” self help book and a couple of exciting fiction debuts. 

But before we bring you that recording, Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connell is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week, including a crack down on boozy Leaving Cert holidays in Portugal. 

For the full list of summer reading recommendations, click here

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The tradition of women taking their husband’s surname stems from a time when marriage effectively erased a woman’s legal identity and she would become her husband’s property. While this is no longer the case and society has thankfully moved on, the practice of women changing their last name upon marriage still persists today. But why?

In a recent feature for The Irish Times, journalist Áine Kenny poses the question: “If changing one’s name isn’t a big deal and isn’t sexist, why don’t we see more men taking their wife’s surname?”

To explore this further, Kenny joins Róisín Ingle on the latest episode of the podcast, alongside parenting columnist Jen Hogan. Together, they discuss why they did and didn’t keep their own names after marriage. 

But first Ingle and Kathy Sheridan are in the studio together to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including the long awaited excavation of the Tuam babies site, which is to begin on Monday.

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It was a bright afternoon in April 2015 when Mary Ann Kenny, a university lecturer, received a call that changed her life in an instant. Her husband John, with whom she had two young sons, had collapsed while out jogging and died at the age of 60. Struggling to cope with the sudden loss and the loneliness that engulfed her life in the aftermath, Kenny's grief soon turned to depression, which later progressed into psychotic delusions.

In her new memoir, The Episode, Kenny details her descent into psychosis, her hospitalisation, and her journey back to health and happiness. In this episode, she talks to Róisín Ingle about the impact of her husband’s death, the trauma of her psychiatric treatment, and how she has made sense of her mental health crisis.

But first, Irish Times reporter Ella Sloane joins us to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week, including Greta Thunberg’s aid mission to Gaza and what new research has revealed about the happiness levels of Irish teenagers.

To enter our live book club event, go to Irishtimes.com/events

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What do you really know about the menstrual cycle? Can you tell your follicular from your luteal phase? Can masturbation ease period pains and why do so many women get the dreaded ‘period poo’? To answer all these questions and more we’re joined this week by Dr Hazel Wallace, medical doctor, nutritionist, and author of Not Just A Period, a groundbreaking new book that seeks to understand the entire menstrual cycle, not just the few days each month we bleed.

In this episode, Dr Wallace tells Róisín Ingle why periods are still so poorly understood, the benefits of tracking each phase of your cycle and when to seek advice from your doctor. She also talks about her own experience with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), her decision to freeze her eggs and why she left the NHS to focus on nutrition and female health. 

But first, Bernice Harrison is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including the viral shove of French President Emmanuel Macron by his wife Brigette.

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This week, we’re joined by the brilliant Kit de Waal novelist, memoirist, and fierce advocate for working-class voices in literature. In conversation with Roisin Ingle, de Waal discusses her powerful new novel The Best of Everything, set in 1970s and 1980s England, which follows the interwoven lives of a single mother, her son, and their neighbours as they navigate grief, love, and survival.

Best known for her acclaimed debut My Name is Leon, de Waal also shares insights from her 2022 memoir Without Warning and Only Sometimes, where she recounts her unconventional upbringing as the daughter of a Caribbean father and an Irish Jehovah’s Witness mother. From the fear of a prophesied Armageddon in 1975 to the complexities of faith, identity, and family, the writer reflects on the experiences that shaped her and how they now shape her fiction.

This is a moving, sharp, and sometimes darkly funny conversation about resilience, storytelling, and what it means to find your place in the world. 

Also on today's episode, Niamh Towey joins us to discuss the stories of the week including Gaza, where the UN has said the lives of thousands of children are at risk due to malnutrition.

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