The Women's Podcast
Episodes
Fact to fiction: Jen Bray and Tanya Sweeney on becoming novelists
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For journalists Tanya Sweeney and Jen Bray, 2026 has been a very exciting year so far. In January, Sweeney published her debut novel, Esther is Now Fo...
Joanne McNally on midlife, monogamy and making history at the 3Arena
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by the brilliant Joanne McNally. The comedian and podcaster dropped by the studio to talk about her new...
The digital war on women (and how to fight back)
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This Sunday 8th March is International Women’s Day and to mark the occasion, The Women’s Podcast hosted a live podcast recording at Chapters Books...
The Book Club: Heart the Lover by Lily King
01 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing Heart the Lover by America...
Is Wuthering Heights any good? / The Irish Times Debate
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the grand final of the Irish Times Debate will take place in Dublin, where teams will debate the motion: This house believes the United Nat...
U2’s new feminist EP / Inside America’s Next Top Model
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When America’s Next Top Model arrived on our screens in 2003, it was an instant hit with viewers around the world. The reality TV competition, hoste...
The Epstein files / Grieving an estranged parent
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we’re covering a topic that isn’t often spoken about, but is estimated to affect around one in four families: family estrang...
Is Lucy Letby innocent? / The challenges facing lone migrant parents
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Last month, Action Aid Ireland published a new report highlighting the challenges that lone migrant parents, mainly women, experience when they leave ...
Motherhood over 40 / Who was Brigid?
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This Sunday 1st February is St Brigid’s Day and to celebrate the occasion we’re learning all about Brigid - the woman, the myth, the legend - from...
The Book Club: Flesh by David Szalay
25 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing Flesh by David Szalay. ...
Beckham family feud / The inside story of Ozempic
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Although Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs may seem like a relatively new phenomenon, their origins actually stretch back to the mid 1980s. Back the...
The women against Iran’s regime
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In late December, merchants and shopkeepers in Iran took to the streets to protest against the dire economic situation in the country. Since then, tho...
AI 'nudification' technology / How Ireland has changed for women
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past thirty years in Ireland, the lives of women have changed unrecognisably. Unparalleled advances in legislation have allowed for divorce, ...
Suzie Miller: Prima Facie
01 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Prima Facie, the award-winning one-woman play written by Australian playwright Suzie Miller, is coming to the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin later this mont...
Domestic Violence, Molly Malone’s breasts, Skortgate & Catherine Connolly: The Women’s Podcast reviews 2025
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
2025 was the year Ireland elected its third female President, but only three women were appointed Ministers in the new Cabinet. Down one on the previo...
The Book Club: Christmas gift recommendations
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a gift for the book lover in your life, The Women’s Podcast Book Club has you covered. In today’s episode Niamh Towey, Ber...
The Book Club: Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare
07 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing Thirst Trap, the debut nove...
Celebrating 10 years of The Women’s Podcast - Highlights from The Peacock Theatre
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ten years ago, a group of women in The Irish Times got together to envisage a podcast that told stories about the female experience and provided a spa...
Should there be women-only carriages on trains? / Christmas gift ideas
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Although it’s still November, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas over here on The Women’s Podcast. To kick off this year's festive seas...
‘Quiet Piggy’ / Katherine Zappone on life, love and politics
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, former senator and government minister Katherine Zappone joins Kathy Sheridan to discuss her new memoir Love in a Time of Politi...
Fiona Shaw on fame, feminism and falling in love
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With a career spanning theatre, film and television, Irish actor Fiona Shaw has been a household name in Ireland for decades. The Cork native is known...
Kim Kardashian’s acting debut / The day Iceland’s women went on strike
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the 24th October 1975, 90% of the women in Iceland went on strike. For the entire day, women refused to participate in waged work, domestic labour ...
Lily Allen’s new album / How Jane’s Place helps women
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since opening in 2024, Jane’s Place has become a sanctuary for some of Ireland’s most vulnerable women. The drop-in centre, located in the heart o...
Naoise Dolan and Veronica O’Kane / Virginia Giuffre’s memoir
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, Irish author Naoise Dolan and psychiatrist Dr Veronica O’Keane arrived home to Ireland after spending five days in an Israeli prison. The...
Menolicious: Mariella Frostrup & Belles Berry / Should all women be on HRT?
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This Saturday the 18th October is World Menopause Day and to mark the occasion we are joined by journalist, broadcaster and menopause advocate Mariell...
Gaza Flotilla / The Walsh Sisters / A Want in Her
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, five Irish citizens including author Naoise Dolan were detained by Israel when their flotilla of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip was int...
Bláthnaid Raleigh / Women standing up to racism
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In July 2019, Bláthnaid Raleigh’s life changed forever when she was raped at a house party by a man named Jonathan Moran, whom she was familiar wit...
Maria Steen’s handbag / Love your vulva / Mallika Taneja
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve got a jam packed episode for you this week, kicking off with a fascinating interview with Indian theatre artist, Mallika Taneja, who is bringi...
Restorative Justice/ The Walsh Sisters
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
According to academic Dr Marie Keenan restorative justice is “a way of giving justice to victims that centres the victim of crime in the process, as...
Leslie Dowdall & Flo McSweeney / Maria Steen for President?
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
1980s Dublin wasn’t all emigration and recession. There was great music, mad nights out and a capital city bursting with homegrown talent. Irish roc...
Rosie O’Donnell at Electric Picnic / Earthquake in Afghanistan / The Traitors
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve a special live episode of the podcast for you today, a wide-ranging chat with actor, writer, presenter and mother of five Rosie O’Donnell at...
Taylor’s big announcement / Wild Words with Jan Brierton
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend the Women’s Podcast is joining the line up of Jan Brierton’s Wild Words at Electric Picnic. For the event, Róisín Ingle will be hos...
Sally Rooney’s support for Palestine Action / Hungary's poisonous women
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 20th century, in a remote village in Hungary, a group of women, driven to despair by their violent, abusive husbands, decided to take mat...
Childfree by choice at 77: Helen Taylor reflects on a life without children
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In recent years, more and more women have been speaking openly about their decision to not have children. There are numerous books on the subject, ded...
Orla Donoghue: Busting the stigma of single parenthood
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Following the breakdown of her long-term relationship in 2021, Orla Donoghue became a single parent to her then one-year-old son, Rory. The transition...
Book Club: The Marriage Vendetta by Caroline Madden
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing The Marriage Vendetta by de...
Sleep Divorce: Why sleeping separately might be good for your relationship
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 epis...
Why women should be lifting weights (especially as we age)
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by women’s health and fitness coach Elaine Gillespie, to talk about the transformative power of lifti...
Anne Marie Allen on her lost years inside Opus Dei
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 Plain Sight: Noelle Brown and Camille O’Sullivan
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 per...
Deepfakes and AI Girlfriends: How artificial intelligence is putting women at risk
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 po...
The Book Club Live: Summer Reads with Marian Keyes
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last weekend our Book Club gathered for a live show at Kildare Village to discuss the best reading recommendations for summer 2025. Róisín Ingle, Be...
Why do some women still take their husband’s last name?
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 be...
Greta Thunberg sets sail for Gaza / Mary Ann Kenny on loss, psychosis and healing
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 J...
The Macron 'wife shove' / Talking periods with Dr Hazel Wallace
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Kit de Waal on identity and belonging / Starving children of Gaza
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we’re joined by the brilliant Kit de Waal novelist, memoirist, and fierce advocate for working-class voices in literature. In conversatio...
Jacqueline Connolly: ‘I didn’t know what coercive control was until my family were killed’
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2016, Clodagh Hawe and her three sons, Liam (13), Niall (11) and Ryan (6) were murdered in their Co Cavan home, by their husband and father Alan Ha...
Down with that ‘skort’ of thing / Celebrating Tina Turner
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two years ago this month, Tina Turner died at the age of 83 at her home in Switzerland. The global superstar and rock icon had a career spanning more ...
Irish woman detained by US immigration / The Steminists
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In March, a group of secondary school students from Co Offaly made history when they became the first ever all-female team to win the VEX IQ All-Irela...
Climate Changemakers: Three women on their fight against climate change
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
According to the latest European State of the Climate Report, 2024 was the hottest year on record for Europe and the fourth warmest year ever recorded...
Amanda Knox: My Search for Meaning
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Seven years after Amanda Knox was definitively acquitted of the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, she flew to Italy to meet the man who had led the pro...
Victim blaming on the rise / How to be a good grandmother
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bookshops and libraries are bursting with books on parenting and what to expect when you’re expecting, but there aren't nearly as many guidebooks ou...
Wedding fatigue / What teens really think of Adolescence
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Adolescense arrived on Netflix last month, it was streamed nearly 25 million times in just four days and sparked a global conversation on the dar...
The Book Club: Confessions by Catherine Airey
30 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle discuss Confessions, the debut novel from ...
Meghan & Gwyneth / The real cost of cancer
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Friday March 28th, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) will celebrate Daffodil Day. It’s the charity’s biggest fundraising event and aims to raise m...
Conor McGregor at the White House / Sarah Corbett Lynch
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Corbett Lynch was just eight-years-old when her father Jason was killed at their home in North Carolina by her stepmother Molly Martens and her ...
Rosie O’Donnell's move to Ireland / The importance of foster care
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Ireland, more than 5,500 children are currently in foster care. This could be because of illness in the child’s family, the death of a parent, ne...
The Book Club Live: Books by women that challenged & changed us
09 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate International Women’s Day, the book club gathered with a handful of podcast listeners for a live event at Kildare Village on Saturday m...
Thriving in male dominated industries / International Women’s Day event guide
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
International Women’s Day is on Saturday the 8th March and there are lots of events happening all around the country to celebrate the occasion. ...
Andrew Tate’s new-found freedom / Rosie Schaap’s love letter to Northern Ireland
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Born and bred in New York, the last place that Rosie Schaap thought she’d end up, was living in a rural village in Northern Ireland, miles away from...
What can be done about ‘sex for rent’ ads? / New women in the Dáil
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After lengthy government formation talks and a chaotic first week in the Dáil, the new Government is finally settling into it's first few weeks of a ...
Working from home / Single on Valentine's Day
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This Valentine’s Day, we’ve decided to shift the focus away from love and relationships and onto the joy and excitement of the single experience. ...
The Grammys viral moment / Mamobo Ogoro on why diversity and inclusion matters
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America might be rowing back on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, but one woman who is fighting to keep interculturalism at the foref...
Portiuncula Hospital review / The Edna O’Brien story
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien story is the brand new documentary by Irish filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea. It’s a portrait of one of Ireland’s finest w...
Bishop Budde vs Trump / Becoming a mother at 49
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yoga teacher and wellness coach Kerry White was 48 years old when she finally decided to pursue her long-held dream to become a mother. As a single wo...
Meta’s new masculine energy / Understanding ultra-processed food
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
These days, we’re hearing a lot more about ultra processed foods and the dangers of over eating these highly industrialised food products. But what ...
What’s in and out for 2025 / Where’s our free HRT?
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a brand new year and to celebrate we’ve got a brand new segment to kick off the podcast each week. It’s our weekly news wrap covering the s...
The Women’s Podcast 2024 review
02 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
2024 was the year Americans chose a convicted felon as their next president, Afghanistan banned women from speaking or singing in public, and the slau...
Róisín Ingle: My breast cancer diagnosis
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Each week on The Women’s Podcast, we hear from women from all walks of life who come on to talk about their lived experiences, their life stories, t...
Sober at Christmas: How to enjoy being alcohol free
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For many people, alcohol and the festive season go hand in hand. It’s the season of excess when normal rules around eating and drinking seem to go c...
Housewife of the Year winners: Ena Howell and Margaret Carmody
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Housewife of the Year competition ran for almost three decades, from 1969 to 1995. Thousands of women from all around Ireland entered, hoping to w...
The Book Club: Best reads of 2024
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re looking for a new book to curl up with over the festive period or to give as a Christmas gift, The Irish Times Women’s Podcast is here t...
Arezo Rahimi: Fighting for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan
28 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, following the withdrawal of US troops, the lives of women and girls across the country ch...
Election 2024: What are the parties promising women?
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the General Election campaign in full swing and just over a week to go until polling day, political parties are making all sorts of promises to g...
What teenage girls wish their mothers knew
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, Chelsey Goodan aka the “teenage whisperer” joins Róisín Ingle to talk about her new book Underestimated: The Power and Wis...
The Trump nightmare / Donna Ashworth’s soothing words
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday, in what for many of us is an utterly depressing turn of events, the American people voted for Donald Trump to become the next President of ...
US Election Gender Divide / What Jenny and Mairéad Know Now
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the US election just days away, Irish Times columnist and co-presenter of The Women’s Podcast Kathy Sheridan joins Róisín Ingle to talk about...
Simone Gannon: Beauty through the ages
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Simone Gannon is a content creator, digital marketing expert and the new beauty writer at the Irish Times. Since the beginning of the new year, she’...
The Book Club: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
20 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle discuss Sally Rooney's long-awaited fourth...
Eavan Boland Library and Mary Lavin Place: the movement for more spaces named after women
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, Trinity College announced that the main library in its city centre campus has been renamed after Irish poet Eavan Boland. It will be the fi...
Bella Mackie: Anxiety, acceptance and armchair detectives
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bella Mackie’s debut novel, How to Kill Your Family, sold over one million copies, and now she’s back with her second book, What a Way to Go. It’...
Ruth Crilly: How Not to be a Supermodel
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Róisín Ingle is joined by author, content creator and veteran fashion model Ruth Crilly. In her new memoir, How Not to be a Supermodel, Crill...
Book Club: The Amendments by Niamh Mulvey
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After a short hiatus, the book club is back with Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín and Ann Ingle discussing The Amendments by Niamh Mulvey. The ...
Laura Kennedy: Some of our Parts
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Writer, philosopher, and friend of the show Laura Kennedy is here to discuss her first book, Some of Our Parts. It’s a memoir and a thought-provokin...
Sonya Lennon: Helping women back to work
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
WorkEqual is the brainchild of Sonya Lennon, stylist, designer and social entrepreneur. It’s a free service, which helps women find the confidence t...
Eleanor McEvoy: Thrifting, touring and healing from heartache
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This September, Oxfam is encouraging people to take a stance against the impact of fast fashion and to shop second hand. With the textile sector contr...
Bella DePaulo: The power, freedom and joy of single life
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At seventy years old, psychologist and author Dr. Bella DePaulo has been happily single her entire life. Having never felt the need to couple up, DePa...
Mrs Robinson: A portrait of Ireland's first female President
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Aideen Finnegan sits down with former president of Ireland Mary Robinson and film director Aoife Kelleher to talk about their brand n...
Elif Shafak: There are Rivers in the Sky
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There are Rivers in the Sky is the brand new novel from Turkish-British author Elif Shafak. The book is a “love letter to water”, but also a refle...
The sinister side of the tradwife movement
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this year, influencer Hannah Neeleman made headlines after taking part in a beauty pageant just 12 days after giving birth to her eighth child...
Rosemary Murphy: The 40 year-old medical student (and mother of 12)
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode was originally published in August 2023. Rosemary Murphy, a dynamic 40-year-old woman from Dolphin’s Barn in Dublin, had two major goal...
America’s first female president? All eyes on Kamala Harris
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This November, Americans will have the opportunity to elect their first female president. After securing enough support from her delegates, Vice Presi...
Kitty Ruskin: A year of casual sex
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At the beginning of 2019, writer and journalist Kitty Ruskin was young, free, and single and eager to give her sex life a bit of a shake-up. Having pr...
Laura Dockrill: Love, longing & postpartum psychosis
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Dockrill was just 14 years old when she first set eyes on her husband, Maccabees guitarist Hugo White. The pair quickly began an intense relatio...
Fiona McPhillips: When We Were Silent
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, author and journalist Fiona McPhillips talks to Róisín Ingle about her new novel, When We Were Silent. It’s a thriller set in a D...
Ready For It? It’s our Taylor Swiftathon
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Queen of Pop, Taylor Swift, is finally back in Dublin this weekend, bringing her Eras tour to more than 150 thousand fans at the Aviva Stadium ove...
Why engineering needs more women
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, just 23% of all engineering graduates in Ireland were women, while female engineers currently represent just 12% of the profession. Orlagh ...
The Neuroscience of Manifesting: Sabina Brennan
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
According to psychologist and neuroscientist Dr Sabina Brennan, we all have the power to manifest our dreams into reality. However, it has nothing to ...
Surviving the split: How to have a good divorce in Ireland
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to getting divorced in Ireland, many couples end up going through the Irish courts to settle their separation agreements. This process o...
Best of The Women’s Podcast: Caitlin Moran
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A regular on The Women's Podcast, journalist and author Caitlin Moran was in Dublin recently as part of her latest book tour. As someone who regularly...