Ladies, We Need To Talk

When she was 16, Pub Choir's Astrid Jorgensen wanted to be a nun. So how did she end up in pubs, night after night, teaching people to sing?

For years, Astrid felt like she didn't belong to the world of music. But she found her way in, on her terms. Astrid was never going to be an elite Opera singer, but in rediscovering the joy of singing for the sake of it, she invited the world to sing along too.

Astrid has fused...

Up to one in five people have irritable bowel syndrome and women are three times as likely to be affected. From bloating, cramping, constipation and diarrhea, the symptoms can be debilitating, let alone make it hard to do up a pair of jeans! 

Even though IBS is so common, there’s no cure. But there’s increasing research about the best ways to manage symptoms - from the low FODMAP diet to managing anxiety to live a ...

With "wellness" advice from influencers flooding our feeds, it's hard to sort fact from absolute nonsense and know what to eat to feel good.

Enter Laureate Professor in nutrition and dietetics, Clare Collins. Yumi sits down with Clare to get the low down on the good stuff we should be eating on and the nasty stuff we should avoid. How much protein is enough? Is fibre a big deal? Are probiotics bulls*#t?

This episode...

Ladies, we want to hear your sex disasters stories for an upcoming episode!

Have you queefed at the worst possible moment? Maybe you screamed out your ex's name in the throes of passion? Reached for the toothpaste instead of the lube?

If you've got an awkward, embarrassing or hilarious sexual encounter that didn't go to plan, now is the time to share it with the group chat (us!).

Drop us a voice note or message at la...

Turia Pitt was doing it all — working, mothering, wifeing — and she was exhausted. Being everything to everyone came at a huge cost to her mental health — she was close to burnout, and so she decided to flip the script on being a 'good woman'.

Over a decade after sustaining life threatening burns to most of her body in a grassfire, Turia's become a famous author, speaker and athlete. She also had two kids. When Tur...

She's one of the great cultural villains; the evil stepmother. Stepmums are up against it. Besides fighting bad press generated by endless pop-culture references, they're chucked in the deep end of parenting without a life boat.

Yumi Stynes meets stepmothers who've experienced the joy of loving their partner's child as well as the difficulty of slotting into a 'mum' role when the kids already have one.

Plus, researc...

Standing by watching a loved one's addiction can be heartbreaking and confusing. One in ten Australian's struggle with a substance disorder and one in five experience gambling harm.

For every person struggling with an addiction, there are people close to them. The wives, mothers, sisters and children watching their addictions play havoc with their lives.

Yumi Stynes sits down with women who've been on the sidelines ...

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition facing women. One in three will be diagnosed in her lifetime. From overwhelming worry to spiralling thoughts, panic attacks to avoidance, anxiety can have a huge impact. But the good news is that we know how to treat it.

In part two of this three-part mental health series, Yumi Stynes chats to Julie Goodwin, of MasterChef fame, to understand how she got on top of h...

One in six women will get depression in their lifetime, compared with one in ten men. So, is it hormones or circumstances or a combination of both that's makes us more susceptible? And importantly, how can we confront the black dog if it's at our door?

In part one of this three-part series, Yumi Stynes sits down with women who've been in the grips of depression to understand how they overcame it. She also lays out ...

One in three women in Australia will be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in their lifetime and one in six will experience depression. This Mental Health Month, it's time to find solutions.

In this three-part series, Yumi Stynes chats to leading experts about hacking your brain, hormones, nutrition (and yes, mental load) to feel better.

Yumi speaks to women with depression and anxiety about the treatments and lifes...

Twins Clare and Jessie Stephens have been by each other's side for all of life's firsts. The first day of school, first job, first love, first pregnancy and birth plus that time Clare dyed her hair brown (spoiler alert: disaster).

The sisters, both writers and podcasters, live in tandem. They're also competitive high achievers.

So what's it like when your best friend is also your harshest critic, most fierce rival a...

Married mum Deepa Paul didn’t have ‘sleeping with strangers’ on her bingo card. She grew up in the Catholic and conservative Philippines and married her college sweetheart. But underneath, Deepa yearned for more.   

Deepa wanted to open up her marriage, but convincing her husband took time and tears. Eventually, they settled on boundaries and set up their dating profiles. 

Having sex with new people meant that Deepa...

This is a guided meditation to help with chronic pain.  

Endometriosis hurts. It can be a gnarling, twisting, stabbing, relentless source of pain. Finding a way through that pain can be overwhelming at times. Meditation can help.  

Gynaecological surgeon and endometriosis specialist Dr Pav Nanayakkara guides you through a series of breathing exercises to shift your relationship with pain.  

This isn’t a standard Ladi...

Around one million Australian women live with endometriosis. That's around one in seven, so chances are you know someone dealing with debilitating pain, medical misogyny and fertility issues because of the disease.

Awareness about endometriosis has expanded in the last few years, but there's still a long way to go. Yumi Stynes meets women who've spent a lot of time and money seeking a diagnosis and fighting to be h...

Artificial Intelligence is supercharging a new era of misogyny. There are more weapons than ever for men to use against women to silence and shame us, chief among them deepfakes (AI generated images and videos). And tech companies and regulators are not doing enough to fight this abuse, which is affecting everyone from schoolgirls to prime ministers.

After her book Men Who Hate Women dropped, academic Laura Bates w...

Trying to find a life partner on a dating app who's not a gun toting, fish wielding weirdo can be like trying to find a needle in the haystack. But according to Professor Jennie Young, there's a much more empowering way of sorting through all that hay. She's come up with a technique to hack the apps called 'The Burnt Haystack Method' to help women wade through the online swamp.

Jennie never thought she would use he...

Dating apps are a drag. And women are ditching them in droves. Beyond the swiping, more of us are daring to date in real life. Yumi Stynes chats to women moving away from the apps and towards in-person singles events.

From post-divorce blind dates to queer speed dating, dinners with strangers and exercise classes, all in the name of finding love. Or at least a little lust.

Plus, friend of the pod and Lifestyle Edito...

As part of Women's Health Week we're bringing back our episode on Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and the difficulty of getting a diagnosis. 

Weight gain, bristly hairs, no period. Welcome to Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome.  

PCOS is one of the leading causes of infertility worldwide and it can cause debilitating physical and psychological symptoms. 

1 in 8 women have PCOS, so that’s at least a couple of friends in you...