What does narcissism in mothers look like? According to psychotherapists Helen Villiers and Katie McKenna, the narcissistic mother can be “extremely critical, condescending, oppressive and very judgmental”, with devastating impacts for the entire family. They can also use covert or insidious tactics: taking on a victim role or using guilt tripping or stonewalling to get their way. In this episode, Villiers and McKenna join Róisín Ingle to discuss the main traits of maternal narcissism, how it can impact families and how to heal the emotional scars that come with being a child of narcissistic p ..read more

In this episode, Róisín Ingle talks to debut author Rebecca Ivory about her new collection of short stories Free Therapy. The book takes its name from the second story in the collection, but the theme of therapy is there throughout; Ivory’s own therapist even gets a mention in the acknowledgements. The collection takes us into the lives of people who “keep making the same mistakes over and over again”, but for a variety of reasons are unable to change. It’s about unfulfilling jobs, unfulfilling men, desire and connection and has also been endorsed by Sally Rooney. In this conversation, Ivory t ..read more

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’s been entertaining us with her weekly beauty column, where she experiments with the latest trends, imparts her wisdom on all things skincare and makeup and shares her favourite beauty buys. In this episode, Gannon speaks to Róisín Ingle about how to look after your skin at any age, the must have items for the ultimate skin care routine and the beauty products she purchases time and time again. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform ..read more

It’s World Poetry Day today, so what better way to celebrate it than with one of our favourite poets and friend of the show, Jan Brierton. In this episode, Brierton, a self-described ‘accidental’ poet, joins Róisín Ingle to talk about her new book, Everybody Is A Poem. It’s s beautiful collection covering themes of love, loss, menopause, midlife, the mental load, self-acceptance, and much more. Brierton talks about the real-life events which inspired her latest batch of poetry and recites a couple of her favourites. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information ..read more

Tilly Cripwell, a 22 year-old musician, who regularly performs beside the Molly Malone statue in Dublin, is on a mission to stop people from inappropriately touching the sculpture’s breasts. In this episode, Cripwell tells Róisín Ingle how she’s launched the ‘Leave Molly mAlone’ campaign with the aim of stopping this “misogynistic” tradition and to protest against the mockery and objectification of the city’s beloved statue. Later on, we’ll also be hearing about another worthy campaign, called ‘Leave our Leave’, run by the Irish Cancer Society. It focuses on the 60 women each year in Ireland ..read more

This International Women’s Day, we are turning our attention to the plight of Palestinian women and children. So far, more than 30,000 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the majority of which have been women and children. The UN and Human Rights Watch have called it a “war on women”, with an average of 63 women killed every single day, mostly in their own homes. There are also around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with 180 per day giving birth in unimaginable conditions. To talk about the current situation in Palestine and the difficulties of getting aid to those who need ..read more

On International Women’s Day this year, March 8th, the Irish public will be asked to vote in two upcoming referendums. The first referendum concerns the definition of family as outlined in the Irish Constitution and proposes expanding the definition to recognise durable relationships. The second referendum proposes the removal of the reference to women’s duties in the home, instead replacing it with language recognising care within the family. To explore all sides of the arguments on the yes and no side, Róisín Ingle is joined by former barrister and journalist Laura Perrins and visual artist ..read more

In this episode, Kathy Sheridan is joined by British author and journalist Sarah Gristwood, who has just released her new book, Secret Voices: A Year of Women’s Diaries. It’s a captivating collection of diary entries from women, looking back over four centuries, to discover how their experience of everyday life has changed down the years and also how it hasn’t. It includes entries from some remarkable women like Virginia Woolf, Oprah Winfrey, Anne Frank, Louisa May Alcott and even Queen Victoria. In this conversation, Gristwood talks about the inspiration behind the collection, the common them ..read more

Being a perfectionist may sound like a good thing, but don’t let the name fool you. A perfectionist’s life is far from perfect. If you are one, or you know one well, you’ll likely know of the debilitating effects that can come with a perfectionist’s constant quest for excellence. So why does it manifest and who is more likely to struggle with it? To explore this world of impossibly high standards. Kathy Sheridan is joined by clinical hypnotherapist Fiona Brennan and author and writer Edel Coffey. Brennan explains what causes perfectionism, why more women than men are likely to suffer from it a ..read more

In today’s episode, we’re dusting off our ‘cúpla focal’ and talking about the joys of Gaeilge with two Irish language innovators, Mollie Guidera, aka Múinteoir Mollie and comedian Áine Gallagher. But, don’t worry, you don’t need to have any Irish to enjoy this conversation. Guidera, an online Irish teacher tells Róisin Ingle how she discovered her passion for teaching at the age of seven, showing her American cousins how to speak a few Irish words over Thanksgiving dinner. We also hear how despite getting kicked out of Irish college in her very first year, her love for the language never falt ..read more