Podcasts · Society & Culture

The Women's Podcast

The Irish Times

300 episodes

A female take on Ireland and the world. Hosted by Róisín Ingle, the show is packed full of feminism, humour, health, politics, sex, storytelling, relationships and more. The podcast is produced by Suzanne Brennan.

More about the show

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes page 2 of 6

  1. Domestic Violence, Molly Malone’s breasts, Skortgate & Catherine Connolly: The Women’s Podcast reviews 2025

    · 1 h 04 min

    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 previous government. It was the year the hit Netflix show Adolescence had…

  2. The Book Club: Christmas gift recommendations

    · 52 min

    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, Bernice Harrison, Róisín Ingle and Ann Ingle are discussing what books…

  3. The Book Club: Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare

    · 31 min

    This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing Thirst Trap, the debut novel from Belfast writer Gráinne O’Hare. The book tells the story of…

  4. Celebrating 10 years of The Women’s Podcast - Highlights from The Peacock Theatre

    · 54 min

    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 space for women to share their passions, projects and plights. From…

  5. Should there be women-only carriages on trains? / Christmas gift ideas

    · 52 min

    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 season, we’ve asked three business owners to share their Irish-made gift…

  6. ‘Quiet Piggy’ / Katherine Zappone on life, love and politics

    · 1 h 14 min

    In today’s episode, former senator and government minister Katherine Zappone joins Kathy Sheridan to discuss her new memoir Love in a Time of Politics. In this wide-ranging conversation, Zappone charts her journey…

  7. Fiona Shaw on fame, feminism and falling in love

    · 57 min

    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 for her award-winning stage work, as well as her iconic roles in…

  8. Kim Kardashian’s acting debut / The day Iceland’s women went on strike

    · 57 min

    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 or childcare. Instead they took to the streets to protest, demanding…

  9. Lily Allen’s new album / How Jane’s Place helps women

    · 1 h 14 min

    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 of Dublin city, is a space where those in need can access mental health…

  10. Naoise Dolan and Veronica O’Kane / Virginia Giuffre’s memoir

    · 1 h 05 min

    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 pair were among more than one hundred activists including five other…

  11. Menolicious: Mariella Frostrup & Belles Berry / Should all women be on HRT?

    · 1 h 01 min

    This Saturday the 18th October is World Menopause Day and to mark the occasion we are joined by journalist, broadcaster and menopause advocate Mariella Frostrup and by Belles Berry, chef and daughter of well-known…

  12. Gaza Flotilla / The Walsh Sisters / A Want in Her

    · 1 h 27 min

    This week, five Irish citizens including author Naoise Dolan were detained by Israel when their flotilla of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip was intercepted. In today’s episode, Dolan’s mother Miriam McNally speaks…

  13. Bláthnaid Raleigh / Women standing up to racism

    · 1 h 19 min

    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 with from her hometown of Mullingar. It was a vicious and violent attack,…

  14. Maria Steen’s handbag / Love your vulva / Mallika Taneja

    · 1 h 05 min

    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 bringing her show ‘Be Careful’ to the Dublin Theatre Festival next month.…

  15. Restorative Justice/ The Walsh Sisters

    · 1 h 11 min

    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 distinct from the criminal justice system, which centres the…

  16. Leslie Dowdall & Flo McSweeney / Maria Steen for President?

    · 59 min

    1980s Dublin wasn’t all emigration and recession. There was great music, mad nights out and a capital city bursting with homegrown talent. Irish rock icons Leslie Dowdall of In Tua Nua and Flo McSweeney of Toy With…

  17. Rosie O’Donnell at Electric Picnic / Earthquake in Afghanistan / The Traitors

    · 1 h 04 min

    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 The Electric Picnic. We teamed up with Jan Brierton’s Wild Words at the…

  18. Taylor’s big announcement / Wild Words with Jan Brierton

    · 47 min

    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 hosting a special live recording of the podcast with American comedian, actor…

  19. Sally Rooney’s support for Palestine Action / Hungary's poisonous women

    · 59 min

    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 matters into their own hands. Their solution to their difficult life…

  20. Childfree by choice at 77: Helen Taylor reflects on a life without children

    · 40 min

    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, dedicated social media spaces for childfree women and an ever…

  21. Orla Donoghue: Busting the stigma of single parenthood

    · 37 min

    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, however, was far from easy. As a new mother, she grappled with…

  22. Book Club: The Marriage Vendetta by Caroline Madden

    · 27 min

    This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing The Marriage Vendetta by debut author Caroline Madden. The book tells the story of Eliza Sheridan,…

  23. Sleep Divorce: Why sleeping separately might be good for your relationship

    · 56 min

    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…

  24. Why women should be lifting weights (especially as we age)

    · 57 min

    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…

  25. Anne Marie Allen on her lost years inside Opus Dei

    · 1 h 10 min

    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…

  26. In Plain Sight: Noelle Brown and Camille O’Sullivan

    · 43 min

    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…

  27. Deepfakes and AI Girlfriends: How artificial intelligence is putting women at risk

    · 1 h 00 min

    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…

  28. The Book Club Live: Summer Reads with Marian Keyes

    · 1 h 21 min

    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…

  29. Why do some women still take their husband’s last name?

    · 45 min

    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…

  30. Greta Thunberg sets sail for Gaza / Mary Ann Kenny on loss, psychosis and healing

    · 1 h 04 min

    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…

  31. The Macron 'wife shove' / Talking periods with Dr Hazel Wallace

    · 1 h 00 min

    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…

  32. Kit de Waal on identity and belonging / Starving children of Gaza

    · 1 h 05 min

    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…

  33. Jacqueline Connolly: ‘I didn’t know what coercive control was until my family were killed’

    · 1 h 14 min

    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 Hawe, who took his own life shortly after. It was and still is…

  34. Down with that ‘skort’ of thing / Celebrating Tina Turner

    · 45 min

    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 than five decades. Although she retired from performing in her late…

  35. Irish woman detained by US immigration / The Steminists

    · 43 min

    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-Ireland Robotics Competition. ‘The Steminists’ will now represent Ireland…

  36. Climate Changemakers: Three women on their fight against climate change

    · 47 min

    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 in Ireland. As part of the global fight against climate change,…

  37. Amanda Knox: My Search for Meaning

    · 1 h 21 min

    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 prosecution’s case against her, Giuliano Mignini. The now 37-year-old…

  38. Victim blaming on the rise / How to be a good grandmother

    · 1 h 01 min

    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 out there on how to be a good grandparent. That’s why family…

  39. Wedding fatigue / What teens really think of Adolescence

    · 1 h 06 min

    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 dark side of social media and the lives of teenage boys. But what is it…

  40. The Book Club: Confessions by Catherine Airey

    · 33 min

    This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle discuss Confessions, the debut novel from Catherine Airey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more…

  41. Meghan & Gwyneth / The real cost of cancer

    · 1 h 02 min

    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 millions of euros to support cancer patients and progress cancer…

  42. Conor McGregor at the White House / Sarah Corbett Lynch

    · 1 h 10 min

    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 father Tom Martens in 2015. Over the next decade, the Martens, who…

  43. Rosie O’Donnell's move to Ireland / The importance of foster care

    · 1 h 09 min

    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, neglect, abuse or violence in the home, or simply because the parent or…

  44. The Book Club Live: Books by women that challenged & changed us

    · 1 h 03 min

    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 morning. Niamh Towey, Ann Ingle, Bernice Harrison, and Roisin Ingle,…

  45. Thriving in male dominated industries / International Women’s Day event guide

    · 1 h 00 min

    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. Irish Times features writer Ella Sloane joins Róisín Ingle on the podcast…

  46. Andrew Tate’s new-found freedom / Rosie Schaap’s love letter to Northern Ireland

    · 1 h 02 min

    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 the bustling city she once called home. But that’s exactly where…

  47. What can be done about ‘sex for rent’ ads? / New women in the Dáil

    · 1 h 08 min

    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 new term. There’s a whole host of new faces in Leinster House,…

  48. Working from home / Single on Valentine's Day

    · 1 h 12 min

    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. If you’re single and sick of dating apps, Irish Times relationships…

  49. The Grammys viral moment / Mamobo Ogoro on why diversity and inclusion matters

    · 55 min

    America might be rowing back on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, but one woman who is fighting to keep interculturalism at the forefront of people’s minds is Mamobo Ogoro, the CEO of Irish social…

  50. Portiuncula Hospital review / The Edna O’Brien story

    · 1 h 04 min

    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 writers, featuring extracts from O’Briens journals, contributions from the…

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