The Women's Podcast

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, hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, saw young aspiring models compete for the chance to win a lucrative modelling contract. Although the show ended almost a decade ago, it’s back on our screens in Netflix’s new documentary series, Inside America’s Next Top Model.

The three-part show revisits the modelling competitions' most shocking moments and includes interviews with former contestants and judges that paint a picture of a toxic and harmful filming environment. In today’s episode, Irish Times contributor Rachel O’Dwyer and model and actress Amber Jean Rowan join Róisín Ingle to share their thoughts on the show and how the young women who took part were treated. Rowan also discusses her experience on The Model Agent, an Irish reality show which she took part in at just 15 years old.

But first Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connell is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including the newly released EP by U2, the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the ongoing search in Co Wicklow for missing Irish women JoJo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob.
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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 estrangement. It’s a subject that writer and Irish Times contributor Laura Kennedy wrote about recently in her Substack, detailing the complicated grief she experienced following the death of her father late last year - a man she hadn’t seen in over a decade. In today’s episode, Kennedy joins Róisín Ingle to reflect on the strange, unsettling reality of losing a parent whose death changes almost nothing in her daily life. You can find her piece on family estrangement on Substack here https://lkennedy.substack.com/

But first, Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connell is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including France’s ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ moment and a revealing confession made by an Olympic athlete at the winter games this week.
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Last month, Action Aid Ireland published a new report highlighting the challenges that lone migrant parents, mainly women, experience when they leave state accommodation. Many face discrimination, unaffordable rents and inadequate supports, leaving them effectively trapped between direct provision and homelessness. In today’s episode, Deborah Oniah and Owodunni Mustapha (Ola) - two Nigerian women who have made the move from direct provision into secure housing - share their experience of finding accommodation as single parents in the middle of a housing crisis. We also hear from Karol Balfe, CEO of ActionAid Ireland, who explains what recommendations have come from the report and why for lone migrant parents, the barriers to securing housing are often multiplied.

But first, Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connell is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including the latest tranche of Epstein files released last Friday and a new Netflix documentary which questions the guilt of the UK’s “most prolific child killer” Lucy Letby.
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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 author and writer Kim Curran.

Curran has just published her new book Brigid - a reimagining of Ireland’s most beloved saint - in which she details the life of Brigid, the miracles she made and the women she saved. It’s the story of a trailblazer who carved her own path, rebelled against the status quo and could never be caged by men, by gods, or even by history itself. So if you’ve ever wondered who the real Brigid was, what’s the story behind the cross and what inspired her to live as she did, then this is the episode for you.

But first, Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connell is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week, including the tragic death of a homeless woman in Dublin city centre this month and why more women in Ireland are having babies in their 40s.
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This month on The Women’s Podcast Book Club, Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey, Róisín Ingle, and Ann Ingle are discussing Flesh by David Szalay.

The book follows the life of István - an emotionally detached Hungarian man - as he moves from adolescence into adulthood. As the years pass, István moves from the army to the circles of London’s elite. His competing impulses for love, intimacy, status and wealth win him unimaginable riches, until they threaten to undo him completely.

The next book club pick is Heart the Lover by American author Lily King. The group will be discussing it in March.
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