Episodes
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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 of the year'.
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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.
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Missing episodes?
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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.
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We've got big news to share with all our Ladies crew! It involves something smooth and shiny, that has us all very excited. And no, it doesn't vibrate.
We also wanted to take a chance to welcome all our new listeners, and help guide you on starting your Ladies We Need To Talk listening experience!
Here are some classic episodes to start you on your journey:
Horny women
Pongy vaginas
Time to name (and shame) the mental load
Being cheated on
Or you can always start from scratch and go back to Season 1... we promise you will love it all!
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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.
Esther entered the zeitgeist with her book Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence, which gave us language for the opposing promises of marriage — romantic passion and long-term security.
She's since drawn millions of listeners to her podcast, Where Should We Begin, where she publishes live couples therapy sessions. (R)
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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 coach Chloe Adriana talk about how to bring mazzing back on the menu when you’ve lost your appetite.
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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 test, is also being promoted as a way for women to take control of their fertility but the only way to know if you're fertile is to try and get pregnant.
This episode sorts the science from the sell around egg freezing and fertility tests.
Featured in this episode:
Dr Tessa Copp, University of Sydney School of Public Health.
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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 corporate ladder, she started to wonder whether it was possible, as a woman, to have it all. And if so, was it worth the cost?
Samhita sits down with Yumi Stynes to talk about redefining success and happiness.
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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 waking relationship?
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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 the edge? Does it feel like your brain has turned to sludge and your waistline is breaking new barriers? Whatever it is, we want to know! Send a voice note or an email to [email protected]
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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 Australian women, it's changed their lives. Others are still grappling with how the world treats their new body.
In this episode of Ladies, We Need to Talk, Yumi Stynes finds out what the Ozempic era means for all bodies.
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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 this former real-estate girly from Brissy manage living a life in the spotlight while staying sane in the real world?
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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 boy. Hint: they must be able to do their own washing.
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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 fillers.
So if we're spending so much money on looking young, are we complicit in society's obsession with youth?
Women, young and old, tell us their stories of what drew them under the knife (or needle) while dermatologist Dr Ritu Gupta, marketing expert Karen Ferry, make-up artist Linda Jefferyes and beauty editor Cecily-Anna Bennett help to make sense of how we got here.
This episode is one of the best from the grand cathedrals of the Ladies, We Need to Talk archives.
Note: Karen Ferry is now an Advertising Executive Creative Director, no longer at Leo Burnett.
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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 to suggest that fat people deserve the same rights as everyone else. The blog touched a nerve, giving a voice to people who had been silenced and launched Aubrey’s public career.
Aubrey is the co-host of the Maintenance Phase podcast, which calls bullshit on the so-called wellness industry. Oh, and she has a laugh that fills up the room.
Yumi and Aubrey talk about anti-fat bias, online hate and the myth of the perfect body.
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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 way to the pleasure palace.
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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.
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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://hellosundaymorning.org/
Lifeline
13 11 14
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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.
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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.
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