Ladies, We Need To Talk

Esther Perel is on a mission to make us feel less alone. The world renowned psychotherapist says we've lost touch with the village but she's here to help us reconnect.  

Esther chats to Yumi Stynes about how to foster a community and stop putting pressure on romantic partners to fulfil our needs. She shares her own story of seeing her parents build a village as refugees, and how she learnt to lean on her chosen people when her family needed it most.     

If you’re feeling isolated or just want to bolster your community, this episode...

We’re told boobs are sexy! Bouncy! Nutritious food banks even! But what happens when they betray you? 

Every year in Australia, around 20,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Forty per cent of those will need a mastectomy, surgery to have the breast tissue removed. Some of those women will choose not reconstruct, to stay "flat."

Yumi Stynes speaks to "flatties" about their relationship with their new bodies. You'll hear from women who've had one or both breasts removed about how their decision has reshaped their sex lives and body image and how they've found hop...

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 her unique talents together to create Pub Choir — the largest choir in the wo...

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 better and less gassy life.  

Featured in this episode: 

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 will help you turn down the noise on nonsense diet trends and listen to what your guts are telling you.<...

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 ladies@abc.net.au.

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 Turia's family moved away from their support network for her husband's career, Turia took on a lot and did it with a smile on her...

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, researcher Dr Bailey Oliver Blackburn explains the challenges of stepmothering, from responsibility without authority to constant comparison and feeling excluded.

This episode is a celebration of...

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 of someone else's addiction, and who've found a path through a challenging situation.

In this episode you'll hear how to look after your own mental health as...

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 her crippling anxiety. She also sits down with neuroscientist and clinical psychologist Professor Bronwyn Graham to talk anxiety-busting strategies.

The episode explores...

Hey ladies, we are working on an episode about women who’ve taken a break from their long-term relationship, to follow their own path for a little while.

If you’ve hit pause on your relationship in the hopes of getting back together stronger than before, we want to hear from you (whether it worked out in the end or not!)

If this is you, or a woman you know, drop us a line at ladies@abc.net.au

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 the essential ingredients for good mental health.

Featured in this episode:

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 lifestyle changes that have helped them feel better. We also look at how to look after your mental health when you love someone with an addiction.

...

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 and biggest cheerleader? How do you figure out who you are when your identity and DNA are so closely linked with another? Yumi Stynes sits...

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 could explore her desires without shame. It also sparked a renewal in her marriage.  

In her book Ask me how it works: love in an open marria...

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 Ladies, We Need to Talk episode, it’s a tool for your mindfulness toolbox. One you can come back to any time you need.  

These meditations aren't designed to...

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 heard.

She also sits down with Professor Caroline Ford from the Ainsworth Endometriosis Research Institute at UNSW who offers hope for a future with tailored treatments...

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 was sent an AI-generated nightmare. It was her face, used in a sexually violent doctored image.

Her new book, The New Age of Sexism: How the AI...

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 her academic background to become a dating influencer. She was 50 when she first started online dating and was struck by the...

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 Editor at Guardian Australia, Alyx Gorman helps us understand why more women are dating IRL.

What to listen to...

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 Editor at Guardian Australia, Alyx Gorman helps us understand why more women are dating IRL.

What to listen to...

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 your group chat. So why do we still know so little about it?  

Yumi Stynes catches up with ladies who’ve been battling P...

Stand-up star Sashi Perera called off her wedding at the last minute. There were tears and tantrums but that wasn't the final time the lawyer-turned-comedian blew up her life.

Moving to a country in the middle of civil unrest? Tick. Dating a series of duds? Tick. Quitting a well-paid job for stand-up comedy? Tick.

Sashi's redefined what success means to her through career changes, relationship breakdowns and IVF struggles. Yumi Stynes sits down with Sashi to find out how she's learned to run her own race.

What to listen to next:

...

A herpes diagnosis can come with a whole lot of stigma, but it shouldn't. Around 15% of us carry the antibodies to genital herpes, making it one of the most common STIs in Australia.

Yumi Stynes finds out what it's like hearing you have herpes for the first time and how to best manage. From itching to tell partners to soothing your symptoms and how to keep sex humming. 

Plus, STI expert Dr Ellie Freedman explains the science behind the virus and how it changes over time.

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The s...

Approaching her 70th birthday, Gail Rice booked herself an appointment with a sex worker. She'd never done anything like it in her life. As a younger woman, Gail had enjoyed a string of sexual and romantic partners. As the years passed, her sexual currency dwindled and she was hungry for intimacy. But exchanging money for sex taught Gail much more about herself than she was expecting. This is a story about erotic power, ageing and finding the courage to ask for what you want. 

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Loneliness – you're not alone 

Sugar babi...

Ozempic has entered the group chat. Since GLP-1 agonist drugs burst onto the scene, they've been hailed as a weight-loss game changer, but they've also raised uncomfortable questions about what bodies are acceptable, or not.

For years, the body inclusivity movement pushed back against the idea that only thin bodies can be 'healthy' but Ozempic & co are drowning out this message.

So, what do these drugs mean for fat liberation? And how can we shift our collective thinking around weight and morality?

Yumi Stynes chats to a panel of amazing women about the...

Having blah sex? You've CUM to the right place.

Dr Emily Nagoski has the tools for you.

The renowned sex educator and author of Come as You Are, Burnout and Come Together brings the wisdom of psychology and sex research to the fore. She chats with Yumi Stynes about the science behind our sex drives and how we can bring back the chutzpah in the bedroom. (R)

You might also like:

Is everyone having better sex than me?

https://bit.ly/4okf9LO

Perimenopause: how to have...

Unrelenting standards, high expectations and a fierce, reprimanding inner critic. Perfectionism is often celebrated, but striving for flawlessness comes at a cost. There’s lots of ways we, as women feel pressure to be perfect: be the perfect partner, the perfect mother, have the perfect body. But, of course, perfectionism is always out of reach. So, how can we learn to be kinder to ourselves and let go, even just a little?  

Yumi Stynes meets women whose perfectionism has consumed their lives. She learns what happens when a perfectionist f*cks up, and how to recover. Plus, clin...

Hannah Diviney never saw herself reflected in pop culture. And she definitely didn't see herself as the object of desire. Growing up with cerebral palsy, Hannah watched on as rom-coms and teen dramas depicted able-bodied bombshells fall in love, snog their guts out and have sex. All these experiences, it seemed, were out of reach for her. It meant that Hannah had the demanding job of being her own role model. She had to be the change she wanted to see.

You might also like: 

Sex and the D word

Your sex and d...

Have you ever experienced 'the ick'? It's that sudden, visceral feeling of being put off by someone you're dating. Maybe it's their flat cap, the way they chew, or how they laugh.

Stories of the ick are prolific online, but it leaves us with a question — what causes it?

To separate red flags from disgust, we get into the psychology of the ick — why you might feel icky, if it should be a deal breaker, and what it says about your own attachment style.

This episode comes from our science friends at All in t...

'Bounce back' culture can find someone else to pick on, we're celebrating bodies who've given birth.

And this episode isn't just for the mums. It's for everyone who's ever felt the bod they were given this earth to roam in isn't good enough.

Yumi Stynes meets women who've fought the insidious pressures on mums' bodies and found a new appreciation for themselves.

Featuring: burns survivor and author Turia Pitt, founder of the Australian Birth Stories podcast Sophie Walker, body image researcher Dr Zali Yager and mum of two Tegan Russell.

You...

Emotional labour is the overlooked cousin of the mental load. It's managing the feelings of people around us, from being a shoulder to cry on to cheering on your colleagues. Taking the time to check in on relatives and making sure the fridge is stocked with everyone's favourite foods. Emotional labour is invisible yet vital work that falls more heavily on women.

Journalist Rose Hackman reckons it's time women are recognised, and even compensated for this emotional output. Rose chats to Yumi Stynes about how this form of labour underpins our homes, relationships and workplaces, and how...

Welcome to the world of swingers, where the libidos are high but so are the stakes. Join Yumi Stynes as she heads to a swinger's club and learns what it takes to open up a relationship without breaking trust. Meet the women in the swinging scene and find out what they get out of it (besides the orgasms).

This episode will change the way you think about swinging, and maybe even re-frame your approach to intimacy. (R)

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What we need men to know about sex

How to...

When Jamila Rizvi was dealing with the emotional sucker punch of a brain tumour diagnosis, she needed a friend who understood what she was going through. Enter, writer and comedian Rosie Waterland. Rosie knows what it's like to live with a broken brain. A childhood marked by abuse and trauma has left her struggling with complex PTSD throughout her adulthood.

Rosie and Jamila have very different illnesses but lots in common. They chat with Yumi Stynes about how the world views physical and mental illness differently, the lasagne sympathy scale and keeping on keeping on when there's...

Does your partner feel more like a housemate than a lover? Have you lost your spark in the overflowing laundry basket? Resentment got you snarking at each other? Get yourself to the relationship ER! If things are flatlining and you want your partnership to survive, there are treatment options.

Yumi Stynes meets women who have brought their relationships back from the dead. Plus, sex and relationships therapist, Toya Ricci shares advice on how to build healthier, long-lasting connections.

This episode contains references to: sex therapy, relationship therapy, marriage difficulty, marriage sabbatical, relationship sabbatical, intermission, infidelity...

A morning phone call from her doctor confirmed Jessie Tu's worst fears. She'd lost the baby she was carrying. Jessie and her partner had tried for months to get pregnant, and the news sparked a specific kind of grief she hadn't encountered before.

The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Jessie was raised with the idea that discipline and hard work gets you results. But this was a test she couldn't ace.

Jessie's path to pregnancy and loss made her confront questions about what it means to be a family and the sacrifices that mothers are expected...

Fillers, Botox, and injectables — they're everywhere! There was a time when getting needles in your face was a big deal. But these days, getting a 'tweakment' is as easy-peasy as getting a mani pedi.

It's not just 69-year-old Kris Jenner who looks like a teenager now. Your hairdresser, barista, and the mums at the school gate are doing a Benjamin Button.

In this episode, Yumi Stynes chats to women who have regular cosmetic jabs to find out their motivations. Plus, Dr Jasmine Fardouly from the University of Sydney explains how Instagram is pushing us towards th...

In a sex saturated world, it's easy to think that everyone's having hotter, kinkier, more interesting sex than you are. But are they really?

Yumi Stynes gathers together sex therapist, Georgia Grace, author Alyx Gorman and comedian Alex Lee for an urgent group chat unpacking what it means to have a satisfying sex life and why comparisons to others are a boner killer.

This episode contains references to sex, marriage, orgasm gap, orgasm, lesbian, masturbation, queerness, relationships, sex positivity, sex toys, therapy, children, libido, divorce.

Your parents are elderly. Your kids need you. And it's up to you to tend to the needs of everyone. Welcome to the sandwich generation.

The bad news is you'll be wading through a ton of logistical, financial and medical obstacles while watching your folks decline. The good news is you're not alone.

Join Yumi Stynes in meeting two women doing their best in the middle of a sandwich, with some tips on getting your sh*t together before everything falls apart. Plus, clinical psychologist Nasalifya Namwinga has the goods on how to deal emotionally.<...

Coffee enemas? Healing jade yoni eggs? Raw milk? No, nope, nup. Dr Jen Gunter is calling bullsh*t on the internet's wellness industry.

Dr Gunter is on a crusade against disinformation. As a gynaecologist and internationally renowned women's health expert, she calls out influencers promoting harmful treatments and nonsense supplements for profit. And she's not afraid to take on Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop and vaginal steaming products in the process. 

Join Yumi Stynes as she gets a lesson in how to spot a fake, the danger of wellness charlatans, the link between wellness influencers and conspiracy t...

Loneliness hurts. And we know it's bad for us, worse than smoking or obesity. Even though a third of us are lonely, we're embarrassed to say so. So, what would happen if we talked about our loneliness openly? And how can we build more meaningful connections?

Yumi Stynes speaks to women who are lonely, one within a marriage and one hoping to find a partner, to understand the toll it can take. Plus, psychologist Dr Bella Ingram shares tips on how we can insulate ourselves from the chill of being lonely.

Helpful links:

...

Do you need to pee at all hours of the day? Pelvic floor got you down? Are things a getting saggy down there like like a rogue bit of pizza dough or like Gary Oldman's face?

There are some medical reasons why you might need to constantly rush to the loo, but the good news is in most cases your bladder is deconditioned, and you need to get your urinary tract back into ship-shape form.

Tegan Taylor and Noman Swan, hosts of What's That Rash podcast are here to help!

When filmmaker Anna Broinowski turned 50, she stopped giving any f*cks about what other people thought of her. Stopped prettying herself, being concerned with niceness, and exhaled. Certified badass Gina Chick spent 67 days in the literal wilderness living off the land to win Alone Australia. Jessie Tu refuses to adhere to the male gaze.

So, what happens to us women when we stop playing by the Good Girl guidebook and start living by our own rules? And what does it mean to live dangerously? Yumi Stynes sits down with Anna, Gina and Jessie at the Adelaide Festival...

Are chick flicks and rom-coms your secret indulgence but you feel too embarrassed to admit it? Caroline O'Donoghue, host of the hit podcast, Sentimental Garbage, says it's time to stop apologising for the culture we love. Under the tongue-in-cheek banner 'Justice for Dumb Women', O'Donoghue celebrates the pop-culture we've long been told we should feel ashamed for loving, from Sex and the City to Taylor Swift (and Twilight).

So, get out the friendship bracelets and drop the cynicism as Yumi Stynes and Caroline take the guilt out of guilty pleasures.

This episode contains references to...

Are chick flicks and rom-coms your secret indulgence but you feel too embarrassed to admit it? Caroline O'Donoghue, host of the hit podcast, Sentimental Garbage, says it's time to stop apologising for the culture we love. Under the tongue-in-cheek banner 'Justice for Dumb Women', O'Donoghue celebrates the pop-culture we've long been told we should feel ashamed for loving, from Sex and the City to Taylor Swift (and Twilight).

So, get out the friendship bracelets and drop the cynicism as Yumi Stynes and Caroline take the guilt out of guilty pleasures.

Take our audience survey. We...

Our lady gardens aren't meant to smell like roses but if things are overly whiffy downstairs it might mean something more serious is going on. Bacterial vaginosis, or BV, is a common vaginal infection that can cause a stinky, fishy discharge. BV is not only uncomfortable, it can be hella embarrassing and hard to get rid of. But in good news for vaginas everywhere, researchers have discovered that BV can be sexually transmitted and treating male partners can knock it on the head.

In this episode Yumi Stynes talks to Lacey about living with BV and sexual...

What does the manosphere and the rise of online misogyny mean for our relationships with boys and men?

The Netflix drama Adolescence shows the violent consequences of being steeped in hateful messages about women. It follows 13-year-old Jamie, an incel, angry at the world because he's been sexually rejected by a girl. The show has started conversations about the real-world consequences of online misogyny.

Some boys are drawn to the manosphere by the promise of bigger muscles, getting laid and tips on getting rich, but the darker corners of these online spaces encourage violence against...

Charlotte's sugar daddy took her to the fanciest restaurant in Melbourne. Soraya's gave her a trust fund. Meet the attractive young women dating rich older men as Yumi Stynes peeks into the lives of sugar babies. Find out how the online sugar dating world (the sugar bowl) facilitates the kind of romance you pay for, and what can go wrong when sex mixes with money, wealth and power. Yes, there's a holiday in Thailand that goes terribly awry (think White Lotus, with less guns). Plus, researcher Srushti Upadhyay from The University at Buffalo explains how the economy of intimacy...

Great sex isn't inevitable. If you're a straight woman, chances are you've enjoyed far fewer orgasms than your sexual partner(s). And yes, we know, it's not just about the big O, but isn't it time the ladies got on equal frotting footing and closed the pleasure gap? Enter: Alyx Gorman.

In her book All Women Want, Alyx investigates what makes for the best sex, how to get there, and how to communicate what you want. She interviews women of different ages and life stages, dives in the science behind good sex and even takes herself to...

If you think perimenopause is reserved for mid-life, think again.

When other 20 and 30-somethings are out partying or decorating the nursery, how do you cope with night sweats, hot flashes, brain fog and a tired libido?

What's it like to have the body of a young woman, filled with the hormones of someone decades older?

Yumi Stynes meets women going through perimenopause far earlier than they expected to learn how they manage their symptoms and cope with the prospect of infertility.

She also sits down with women's health expert and GP...

What happens to your sex life in perimenopause? When Salt-N-Pepa wrote Let's Talk About Sex, they didn't get to that bit. Well, Yumi Stynes is here to update the lyrics! In this no-holds-barred episode she meets women who have experienced changes to their libido and sexual function during this phase of life and finds out what help is at hand. Yumi chats to women about what got them back in the groove and sits down with sex and perimenopause specialist Dr Sheryl Kingsberg, Professor in Reproductive Biology, Urology and Psychiatry at Case Western University.

This episode contains...

Is perimenopause brain fog jamming up your workday? Are you constantly in a bad mood or irrationally angry at your kids who are only as annoying as usual? Is your memory failing you for the simplest words?

Riding the hormonal rollercoaster of perimenopause has a huge impact on our brains — from mood to memory, sleep to stress.

Come hang with Yumi Stynes as she meets women convinced that they're losing their minds or even going through dementia, but are, in fact, in the depths of perimenopause.

Plus, Yumi chats to Dr Pauline Maki, a...

Hot flashes. Night sweats. Aching joints. Sore boobs. Welcome to your body in perimenopause!

In episode one of this four-part series, Yumi Stynes speaks to women in the thick of perimenopause and battling physical symptoms. She also sits down with Dr Susan Davis, endocrinologist and world-leading expert on sex hormones and ageing to learn the best treatments for bothersome symptoms and how look after yourself in this stage of life. No sweat!

Essential listening if you're going through perimenopause right now, or for those wanting to know what's over the hormonal horizon.

This...

Perimenopause: it's a huge physical, mental and sexual upheaval in a woman's life and yet, there's so much confusion as to how to make it through.

Perimenopause is the months and years leading up to the last period, where a woman's hormones get feisty on their way down to retirement. This hormone fluctuation can lead to a range of symptoms, from hot flashes and night sweats to painful sex, mood swings and RAGE!

In this four-part series, Yumi Stynes speaks to women in the thick of perimenopause as well as world-leading experts in the field...

What's it like to carry and give birth to a child for someone else? What compels a woman to take on something so profound? There's more to surrogacy than cooking a bun in an 'oven', it's complex as hell.

In this episode Yumi Stynes meets women who have been surrogates and hears about the joy and the heartache the experience can bring.

This episode contains references to surrogacy, family, baby, parenting, adoption, Surrogacy Act, transfer of parentage, counselling, depression, mental health, pregnancy, birth, suicidal ideation.

Babies. Some women know they want them, others know they absolutely don't, and then there are the women who find themselves trying to make the call one way or another before biology beats them to it.

But how do you weigh up something so monumental? And can you ever be sure that you've made the "right" decision when it comes to starting a family?

Yumi Stynes sits down with journalist and writer, Gina Rushton and comedian, Penny Greenhalgh to discuss this mother of all decisions.

This episode contains references to fertility, age, biological...

Our best friends are our ride-or-die, snort-laughing, crisis solving buttresses. But what happens when a friendship ends?

In a romantic break-up, there's a cultural handbook instructing us all to sanctioned crying, bitching and ice-cream eating. Playlists, movies and a canon of literature are ready to validate the catastrophic pain of heartbreak. But with romantic break-ups, there aren't the same support systems in place to help us put back together the pieces.

Yumi Stynes speaks to women who've been through the heartache of a friendship break-up to find out how they moved on, and what marks...

Swipe, date, sex, repeat. So went the life of Hope Woodard, constantly on the apps and looking for validation in the form of male attention. This perpetual cycle started from a young age and by the time she was in her mid-twenties, Hope was done. Done with terrible first dates. Done with being ghosted. Done with men. So, she set herself a challenge, to give up dating and sex for a year. Hope was going boysober.

Hope chats with Yumi Stynes about the pleasure of finally getting to know herself, what she learnt from a year off...

When Dr Rena Malik posted a video on her YouTube channel called 'Where's the G-Spot?', twelve million people tuned in to hear the answer. The urologist and sex educator has carved out a space as a reliable and trustworthy source of sex education.

But Dr Rena hasn't always been so open. She grew up in an Indian family that didn't talk about sex, no sir. Then she went to medical school, where she learnt about the female body and its magical powers. She says the more you know about your anatomy and the origins of pleasure...

Sometimes, even in the middle of a busy life, we can be overcome by loneliness. It could be a feeling that has been simmering beneath the surface, or a sudden change in circumstances might have slapped it in our face. But loneliness can reach all of us. Whether you have moved somewhere new, left a relationship, or just not connecting with the people in your life....

We'd are hoping you can share your stories for an upcoming episode on loneliness.

Send us a voice note or an email to ladies@abc.net.au. (and you...

Menstruating. An ordinary bodily function. Like breathing or sweating or digesting, it's as natural as the hairs on our heads, period (pun intended). And even though there has been some progress in our openness in talking about periods, we're still largely a bit…grossed out.

Yumi Stynes investigates the lingering shame around women's bleeding and speaks to women who are shifting the tide on how we think about periods. (R)

This episode contains references to menstruation, period, shame, women, blood, ovulation, hormones, women's health.

Saggy boobs, leathery skin, becoming invisible... is getting older as grim as it sounds? Ageing presents a unique challenge to us ladies, and while there's no stopping gravity, there are things to be excited about — from giving less f#*@% to not being afraid to ask for what you want in the bedroom.

Yumi Stynes gets the low-down on what the hell happens to our bodies, brains and spirits as we age and how best to take care of ourselves. (R)

This episode contains references to cosmetic surgery, ageing, filler, body image, death, mental health, social co...

Mind-blowing. Intoxicating. Earth-shattering. Meet the women having the best sex of their lives after years on end of ho-hum humping.

Yumi Stynes speaks to ladies who have levelled up their sex lives, learns how they made it to the promised land, and whether there's room for us all to join them. (R)

 This episode contains references to sex, pleasure, vulva, intercourse, marriage, dating, divorce.

What if being single wasn’t a problem to be solved but a state of bliss? For some women, living without an “other half” is the key to being complete.  

But even though more women than ever are single by choice, we live in a society that values couple-dom. Marriage and motherhood are still held up as the ultimate end goals. Single women are viewed with pity or worse, scorn. Living alone? Cue the lady jokes.  

Yumi Stynes talks to women who are happy to be free from romantic relationships and whose lives are full to the bri...

Cheers! For a lot of us alcohol is a reward after a hard day, a way to unwind, a key part of our celebrations, but our love of a drink comes at a cost.  

Some women are regularly drinking at dangerous rates while others find it difficult to go without.  

Beyond the hangover fuzz, booze can take a toll on our health and relationships. So why are we so keen on a drink despite knowing the risks? And how can we learn to put the cap back on the bottle when we’ve had enough?  

Yum...

Penny Moodie’s childhood was marked by catastrophic thoughts: that her parents would die in an accident, that she had contracted HIV, that she was pregnant, even though she’d never had sex.      These all-consuming anxieties wouldn't leave Penny, they occupied a huge part of her life, and she developed compulsions around them which she believed would keep her and the people she loved safe. 

Ahh Christmas, the festival of eating, drinking and cranky mums. Because in order to have the beautifully set table, thoughtful presents and delicious glazed ham, someone's got to prepare and plan it all. And that someone, is usually a woman, who, by 5pm, has had enough.

Is there a Christmas elf who can help out? Or maybe it's time for blokes to step up and take on their fair share of the mental load.

Yumi Stynes and Monty Dimond share their tips on how to redistribute the labour on and before the 'most wonderful time...

Note: This episode contains explicit content.

What is it like to be a professional dominatrix? To indulge in the power play between dominant and submissive for a living?

In this special bonus episode, Yumi Stynes goes into a domme's dungeon to find out what really goes on beyond the whips and chains. She discovers a world that's full of power, sexual fantasy, pleasure and pain.

Note: This episode contains explicit content. Kink, or BDSM is often played out behind closed doors. Because it's hidden from view, there's an assumption that it's just a few people at the fringes who are into kink, while the majority of us have vanilla sex. But what if interest in kink was more common than you think?

Yumi Stynes meets three women embracing their kinky side. From findom (financial domination) to humiliation and cuckolding, their tastes go well beyond missionary.

Psychotherapist Esther Perel is one of the most influential thinkers on sex and relationships in the world.

She helps us make sense of how we relate to the people around us and what it means to be intimate. Is intimacy just in the bedroom? Or can we have intimacy with our closest friends? How about with the guy at the coffee shop?

And when we do disrobe and have sex with someone, how can we get what we desire out of the experience, whether it's a one-time thing or for the hundredth time.

...

It's no surprise your sex life takes a hit as a parent. You're thinly spread. There are so many things to manage in your head, from cutting up cucumbers to potty training and paying the plumber on time. Getting it on with a partner, or even by yourself drops down the priority list, below napping.

Masturbation can seem like a laughable indulgence. Because when, oh when, does a sleep deprived mum with a job, a partner and a kid get time, and a dimly lit room to bring herself to O-town?

Yumi Stynes and self-pleasure...

Egg freezing is sold as a way for women to hack their fertility and buy some more time on the biological clock.

Fertility companies are marketing the procedure as an insurance policy, but some experts argue it's better thought of as a lottery.

Rates of egg freezing have almost doubled in recent years but the number of people coming back to use those eggs are staggeringly low and even then, there's no guarantee of a baby. Then there's the cost, between $5000-$10,000 per cycle.

Alongside egg freezing, the AMH test, or egg timer...

Samhita had it all. As the executive editor of Teen Vogue she was living the Devil Wears Prada life — fashion shows, fancy dinners and towering heels.

She was a girlboss. But at the height of her success, cracks began to appear. She was anxious, burnt out and her body was falling apart.

But Samhita was at New York Fashion Week in a fur coat and clutching a Gucci handbag, having just put Malala Yousafzai on the cover of her magazine, who was she to complain?

After spending a lifetime trying to climb the co...

There's an expectation that couples share a bed, but what if sleep isn't compatible with being in the same room as your other half? Maybe they snore, maybe they starfish, or maybe you just need a few hours without another human touching you.

Is a sleep divorce, AKA, having separate bedrooms, the answer?

There's a trend towards normalising sleeping separately from your partner. Cameron Diaz is doing it. So are the Beckhams. But does this arrangement spell the end of sex and intimacy? Or does it make for a better night's sleep and a better...

Ladies is making a special series about WTF happens when we go through perimenopause and how to make it to the other side intact. There’s a ton of information out there about this phase, some of it confusing, a lot of it nonsense. Never fear, we’re here to help you sort fact from fanny fart!

We want to hear your stories of change, from what’s going on with your bodies and brains, to sex and relationships. Has your libido hidden in a cupboard? Is the sound of your children fighting enough to send you over t...

Is Ozempic the drug of our lifetime? Since it burst onto the scene it's become synonymous with weight loss, with everyone from A-list celebrities to your next-door neighbour rapidly slimming down.

The popularity of the drug and others like it such as Mounjaro and Wegovy, has led to demand outstripping supply, with the price of these medications falling out of reach for some. 

And along with the cheekbones Ozempic face has unearthed, it's also forcing us to have some uncomfortable conversations around fatness, fatphobia and what it means to be 'healthy'.

For some A...

There aren't many people on your Instagram feed who are as loved and as loathed as Abbie Chatfield.

Ever since Abbie shot to fame as the slut-shamed villain on The Bachelor Australia in 2019, she's been a public and controversial figure who's hard to look away from.

Five years and almost 500K followers later, Abbie's built an empire on sharing her trauma dumps, UTIs, political rants and sexcapades.

Abbie's openness has earnt her lots of fans but it's also made her the target of sexist and violent online threats.

So how does...

What if your man has another, equally important woman in his life: his mum?

For some sons, the aprons strings are tied so tight, it’s impossible to compete with mummy. She’s his number one fan, dotes on him and interferes in his life, including his relationships. It’s not sexy.

So, can a mama’s boy ever reform and stand on their own two feet in a relationship? Or will you always come off second best?

Yumi Stynes and Jess McGuire lay down the law when it comes to being with a mama’s...

As we get older, wiser, more resilient, and better placed to back seat drive, the world does not reward us. Or our grey hair.

If the advances of human progress can make a potato chip taste like a beef rendang curry, why are women still, after all this time and progress, so judged by the way we look?

The Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery estimates Australians spend around $1 billion a year on cosmetic procedures. We're talking facelifts, tummy tucks, brow lifts, neck lifts, rhinoplasties, breast implants. And the training bras of plastic surgery, Botox and...

Aubrey Gordon is a fat woman. She's not on a diet or trying to get thinner and that pisses some people off, but she's done apologising.

This self-acceptance has been hard fought. All her life, Aubrey has had to swallow comments about her size from strangers and family alike. Like all of us, she was force-fed the idea that there is only one ideal body: a thin one.

Aubrey's resistance started with her blog, Your Fat Friend, where she wrote about what it's like to live in the world as a fat person and dared...

You're on a date and there's a spark, the chat is great, the vibes are flowing. But come the time to disrobe, all that potential sexual brilliance comes crashing down. They're a dud root. So what on earth do you do if you've got a connection with someone, but they're not rocking your socks off? How do you have a conversation about what you like, without hurting their feelings? And can you ever turn a jackhammer into a magical orgasm wand? Yumi Stynes and sex therapist Aleks Trkulja get under the sheets and figure out how to communicate your...

The Other Woman. The bit on the side. Side hoe. She's the biggest villain of them all. She's probably younger, hotter and she's left the girl-code far behind, because THAT woman is stealing your man, girl. So, who is 'the other woman' and what's driving her towards married men anyway? In this episode, Yumi sits down with women dating men who are teken and finds out how they navigate their own messy relationships and emotions.

Jill Stark spent most of her life defined by alcohol. Either as a hard-drinking party girl, spurred on by a culture of drinking as a journalist, or as the poster child for sobriety, trapped by a public identity that revolved around abstinence. Yumi and Jill talk about her journey to genuine sobriety on her own terms, and how she has learned who she is without booze.   

Resources:

National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline

1800 250 015 

Alcoholics Anonymous: 

https://aa.org.au/

1300 222 222 

Hello Sunday Morning 

https://hellosu...

We’re all about labia love here at Ladies, but it seems that some women are less than enthusiastic about their lower lips. 

So what’s the real deal on the labiaplasty? Will cosmetic surgery really help restore the labia love to those who just aren’t feeling it? Yumi is here to unpack the problems with our flaps and give us the low-down on the down-there surgery.  

Tick, tock, tick, tock... can you hear that? It’s your biological clock and it’s about to blow! 

For some, deciding whether to have a baby isn’t just about fertility, it’s also about weighing up whether becoming a parent is the path best taken.  Never fear, Yumi Stynes has perched herself behind the mic to hold your hand and navigate this tricky time-bomb. 

At 31, Jamila Rizvi’s life changed forever. The discovery of a rare brain tumour knocked the ass-kicking, over-achieving media advisor and young mum sideways.  

Jamila had two rounds of brain surgery, followed by radiation, and now lives with chronic health conditions. She’s had to re-map what life looks like and let go of the idea that she can control what lies ahead. 

Despite the challenges, Jamila’s found strength in herself and by leaning on those closest to her. In this episode, Jamila and Yumi dig into the wisdom that comes from being dealt one of l...

We all have days when we look in the mirror and think “who is that hideous moll staring back at me??” But what if those days are constant and you feel like a loser in the attractiveness lottery?  

Let’s face it, being hot is a social currency and the pressure to look a certain way as a woman is constant. So how can we let go of the ideal beauty standard (whatever that is on a given day) and learn to love the image looking back at us?  

Yumi Stynes is here with her gal pals...

Perimenopause can be bad for your health. It’s not just the physical symptoms like weight gain, insomnia, exhaustion and loss of sex drive that can knock women sideways, the mental health impacts can be immense as well. 

Hormone fluctuations during this period can lead to mood swings, anxiety, brain fog and depression. To make matters worse, these symptoms are often misdiagnosed and mistreated.  

Help is at hand though! Yumi Stynes becomes an honourary member of the club and gets the 411 on all things perimenopause and mental health.  

Featured in this episode: 

Prof...

Have you ever had a sexual dry spell? And when we say dry, we mean years and years. Getting naked and doing the bedroom rodeo with another person can be daunting at the best of times, but especially if it’s been such a long time you’re worried you may have forgotten how to ride the horse.  

Anxieties begin to take over...Will everything work like it used to? What if they don’t like my body? And what if the dog walks in?  

So, how can you break the dry spell and get back in th...

In life, there are a lot of random rules women stick to. One of them is not telling loved ones about a pregnancy until after the first trimester. But why???

The answer is more often than not, miscarriage.  

Being in love feels so damn good, right? But what if you fall so deeply into your relationship, you start to forget who you are?  

Swipe left, swipe right, match, meet, hook up, repeat. We all know the dating dance, but is it really serving us as women?

Enter Hannah Ferguson, the 25-year-old media queen who isn’t afraid to tell us how it is.  

When Hannah was in her late teens and dating for the first time, Tinder ruled the scene and sex was available at the swipe of a finger. But a string of sub-par experiences left her wondering if hookup culture is selling women a lie. Have we come to expect scraps because that's all that's on offe...

Women bear the load of most of the invisible (thankless) work in a household. And that shit gets heavy.  

School lunches, laundry, dentist appointments, shopping, snot-wiping, cleaning, care-giving – and don’t forget to get those 10k steps in while you’re at it! 

We're exhausted just thinking about it.  

Yumi dishes out advice on how to even out the mental load and take the weight off your shoulders.  

If you’ve got a snag in your life that you just can’t figure out, let us take on the burden! Send an audio note to...

What if your appetite for sex was insatiable? Would you love to be boning every day, multiple times a day?  

There's this idea that it's men that are always lusting after sex. But guess what? Women can be horn dogs too! But that horniness often comes with the label "slutty". 

Yumi Stynes chats to women who are relishing their pleasure and enjoying plenty of orgasms while they’re at it.  

When you’re stuck in the daily grind of working-mum life, sometimes it can be hard not to feel like a shitty mum.  

School lunches, getting them dressed (FFS), raising good humans, endless meetings – it's exhausting and soul-destroying. 

Yumi has some advice to ease the mum-guilt, when your heart is being yanked in opposite directions and backing away from work isn’t an option.  

If you’ve got a problem that not even your girl gang can help you solve, let us take on the burden! Send an audio note to ladies@abc.net.au 

Yumi has been cheeky and stolen the keys to the ABC archive to bring out one of our favourite episodes. Life is tiring. The cozzi livs, the constant merry-go-round of caring and work and chronic stress can be overwhelming. For some, this relentless pace can lead to burnout.

The "other woman" has been demonised in pop culture, but is it time we learnt to understand her choices rather than judge her for them? 

If you’ve carried a baby, you may have had to deal with the fall out (literally) of pelvic prolapse. But having your organs pop out of your vagina isn’t limited to mammas, getting older is also a big factor. 

Rosie Waterland’s mum was, to put it mildly, chaos personified. Charming and caring one minute, abusive and cruel the next.  

This year, she died. A moment Rosie was strangely prepared for. But her mum’s death left her to contend with the conflicting emotions of grief and relief. 

Yumi Stynes sat down with Rosie for a heart to heart about growing up with an abusive parent, grieving and coming out of the other side of childhood trauma.  

Featured in this episode:  

Rosie Waterland, author and podcaster 

Lifeline: 13 11 14  

1800RESP...

Would you like to flip the script and peg your partner? 

Yumi spreads the word on pegging your boo, how to introduce anal play into your sex life and the ins and outs of doing it (or not) so everyone feels good.  

If you’ve got a problem that’s doing your head in, never fear because your hottest, coolest agony aunt is primed and ready to help you out! Send us an audio note to ladies@abc.net.au