When Irish Times journalist Róisín Ingle approached her colleague and fellow columnist Kathy Sheridan with the idea of starting a podcast for women in 2015, Sheridan “hadn’t even heard of a podcast at that stage”.
In spite of this, the pair came together as co-founders and co-presenters of what would become known as The Irish Times Women’s Podcast - a dedicated space to share stories and learn from women from all walks of life. Since it’s inception, the podcast has heard from political leaders, sexual abuse survivors, campaigners, comedians, authors, academics, relationship experts and a wide range of other guests.
Speaking at The Women’s Podcast 10th birthday celebrations at the Peacock Theatre in Dublin this week, Sheridan admitted she didn’t think the podcast would last beyond its first birthday. Her scepticism was fuelled in part by the fact that Irish listeners were not overly familiar with podcasts at the time.
“People used to say: ‘How do I even find a podcast?’”, she explained.
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But find it they did, and ten years later the podcast is still going strong, with new episodes released every Thursday.
At the live event to mark this momentous milestone, the two co-hosts and a number of special guests in the audience reflected on a decade of The Women’s Podcast. They discussed memorable moments including the Waking the Feminists movement of 2015, the women-led campaign to repeal the Eight Amendment and they also paid tribute to the guest who has made the most appearances on the show (spoiler alert: it’s Marian Keyes).
Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connell was also there on the night to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week. Plus, poet and friend of the show Jan Brierton delivered a gorgeous poem, specially commissioned for the occasion, called The Revolution Will Be Podcast.
You can listen back to highlights from the Women’s podcast 10th birthday party, recorded live from the Abbey’s Peacock Theatre in the player above, or wherever you get your podcasts.
