Have you ever been scammed? Ripped off? Betrayed? Lied to? Ever fallen for a sociopath? Are YOU a sociopath? How would you know if you were? These are the questions we discuss with Zoe Whittall, author of the bestselling novel “The Fake”. Zoe is a Canadian poet, teacher TV writer and novelist. She has won all sorts of awards for her work, including being shortlisted for the Giller Prize, and her 2016 novel, The Best Kind of People, is being developed for film by Sarah Polley. “The Fake” is her fifth novel, and tells the story of a charming con artist who changes the lives of two victims (or patsies, as Mo calls them). We also tackle humour and mental health, Judy Blume, and growing up in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.
“The Fake” is published by Harper Collins. Zoe is currently working on a book based on the Gilmore Girls, to be edited by Jen Sookfong Lee - another Woman of Ill Repute!
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. 
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
A Transcription of the show can be found here. 
We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zoe Whittall: Lovers And Liars

Women of Ill Repute is a compliment. And not just for women! Wendy Mesley and Maureen Holloway have left CBC and CHFI to chat with sassy women about sex, family, politics, and media. Lots of secrets and no room for shame. Is it journalism or comedy? It’s both. Smart talk with tv and radio stars, comedians, authors, lawyers, politicos, restaurant icons and more. All of them brave, fierce and funny. Fun!

Personal Journals

Society & Culture

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

We had to ask about the red hair, does one get ridiculed or admired? Loreena McKennitt has a mass of beautiful red curls but is mostly admired for her music. When Mo thinks of her, she sees mists and magic and fairy tales. Loreena’s sold more than 14 million albums and toured the world with her harp and her beloved band of fellow musicians. She’s a singer, songwriter and composer with a new album full of early Celtic tunes called “The Road Back Home”, and is going on tour where she hopes the audience will sing along with her!
Loreena’s never had a manager and organizes the tours herself. She says the insurance during Covid was half a million dollars! We talk to her about the joys of touring and about being a privacy activist. Ok, that was our word, Loreena says she’s not an activist, but she sure sounds like one, as she speaks about trying to make the world a better place. She was born in Morden, Manitoba and now lives in Stratford Ontario.
You can watch the show on our YouTube page. 
You can grab a copy of the transcription on the episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Loreena McKennitt: Celtic Queen

“Going to the coconut tree”. You hear it all the time on “Survivor”. What does that mean? Erica Casupanan spills the beans. She is the first Canadian to win “Survivor”, and the first Filipino. Tiny and Asian, she was tired of always being underestimated, so she used it on “Survivor 41”. Erika voted out her rivals, won over everyone else, and surprise, she won! More than a million bucks. A bit more than her previous salary as a communications manager, where she saw power dynamics at play. People are treating her very seriously now.
Mo tried to get Wendy to try out for Amazing Race Canada, but Wendy couldn’t imagine life without her special pillow. Then Erika said she was only allowed to wear underwear for the whole show. That had absolutely nothing to do with Wendy’s decision. Really. Erika now does a podcast, called “Happy to See Me”, where she is not so secretly trying to make the world a better place. And to hell with the trolls, winning “Survivor” taught her she can do anything. As for the million bucks, Erica’s only bought one pair of fancy shoes.
You can watch this episode on YouTube. 
A Transcription of this episode is located on our episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erika Casupanan  “Sole Survivor”

Michael Smith is a Celebrity Chef who decided he had a problem with the Celebrity part. He’s kind of a big deal, has published several cookbooks, hosted TV shows on the Canadian Food Network, and wore the chef’s hat at some big-name restaurants around the world. Now, tired of Michelin-priced restaurants, he moved to Prince Edward Island and runs the 5-star “Inn at Bay Fortune”, where the farm is as sumptuous as the food. And there are oysters. Some nights he helps shuck 700 of them.
Chef Michael got married, had kids, and embraced his inner tree hugger. He’s a nutritional activist, who says he went through a preachy period, but now he’s just trying to be “real”. We talk to him about tipping (he’s not for it), the show “The Bear” (he loves it), and living on the Island. We didn’t ask him for any potato recipes. Although He’s 6.5 –that would be a lot of potatoes.
You can watch this episode on YouTube. 
A Transcription of this episode is located on our episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef Michael Smith: What's Cooking?

Ron James says comedy should never be mean, but he sure has a lot of opinions! You should hear what he says about Quebec comedians. Is there a geographic link to comedy, a humour gene unique to Eastern Canada? Ron says he learned the power of laughter at his father’s knee in Glace Bay and then Halifax. That’s why he loves to tour, he says laughs are truly the bottom line.Like so many comedians, Ron got his start at Second City in Toronto. Then he moved to
Los Angeles, and hosted a TV show. Alas, the show was short-lived, so Ron moved back and wrote a book called “Up and Down in Shaky Town: One Man’s Journey Through the California Dream”. It got turned into a CTV special, then he wrote and hosted “Blackfly” on Global, and “The Ron James Show” on CBC. And he tours! Ron has been selling out theatres across Canada for years.
Book or go see Ron James here. 
You can watch this episode on YouTube. 
A Transcription of this episode is located on our episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ron James: Rocking The Boat

Jen Gerson of “The Line” readily admits to being a mouthy babe, but only when she writes, she insists she is actually shy. Jen says she’s just opinionated, not trying to change anyone’s mind. She argues that’s not a journalist's job, that only activists try to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”. Well, call us afflicted! Her writing makes us think.
Jen has written for The New York Times, The Economist, Macleans, the National Post and The Globe and Mail. Now, she co-hosts “The Line” on Substack with Matt Gurney, and is writing a book about the Satanic Panic! We ask her about the Q-Anon Satanic cult accusations now being slung at the Democrats, and the ongoing attraction of moral panics and conspiracy theories. It seems we eat up all the sex and violence. Amongst all of this, we talk about the changing views on immigration, and how it’s catnip for both Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre.
You should subscribe to The Line's Substack, and their podcast. 
You can watch this episode on YouTube. 
A Transcription of this episode is located on our episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zoe Whittall: Lovers And Liars

Download our free app to listen on your phone