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The Inimitable Pinky Agnew has been top of the Showy Ovarian pods ever since it was recorded as the first ever episode back in 2021. Her charm, wit, warmth and sparkle have entertained over 700 of you, so whilst Penny was performing The Tempestuous in Wellington for a month (which runs til December 1st), she decided to drop into Pinky's newly downsized pad to catch up with our Queen of the Downloads.
Pinky discussed the delights of embracing 70, celebrancy, loving her grey power, crazy running with grandchildren, her joy of joining of the empowering Toitū Te Tiriti Hikoi to parliament, and about the release of her new book: This is Farewell: Readings and Meditations on Death and Dying.
They also discussed some deeply challenging recent events involving assault, mental health and dementia, but despite these confronting times her absolute reveling in what it is to be human and joyous will always shine through.
CW: Sexual assault, depression, dementia, panic attacks, death, dying. BUT also joy, happiness, family, love, release and humanity. #queenSupport the show
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With a husband catching the FLiRT variant and subsequent laying low, Penny decided to bust out an ovum with her WOMAD poem all about her Showy Ovaries epiphany. Listen in as hubby shouts up the stairs from his isolation den for sandwiches, and Penny chats about what happened with HRT, what's coming up in her world and screeching about tampons in a petrol station. As you do.
Buy Sense and Sensibility tickets here: www.circa.co.nz/package/sense-and-sensibility/
And for The Tempestuous on Tour Here: www.hotpink.co.nz/gigs/Support the show
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To coincide with the launch of her new book today; The Everything Guide: Hormones, health and happiness in menopause, midlife and beyond, Niki Bezzant dropped in to Penny's house with almond croissants to talk life, hormones and her prodigious brain.
In her third visit to Showy Ovary Town, Niki told Penny of her mission to educate women about how to feel good in the skin they're in, to be kind to themselves and to look after our bodies like the well oiled machines they can be. She also attempts to squash Penny's proclivities for negative self talk, to discuss her own HRT journey, and about her proudest achievement in life; which just happens to involve the clitoris.
Stay tuned for discussions on unscrupulous supplement promotions, on sexual awakenings and on why Penny doesn't like shoelaces.
https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/the-everything-guide-9781776950829Support the show
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Writer, journalist, redhead advocate and PR specialist; Angela Barnett swung by Penny's house to discuss inter generational bodily shizzle in all its complicated glory. From her mother's traumatic birth, to her own struggles with bulimia, to making sure her daughter navigates the world aware of the ridiculous standards placed on women by the patriarchy and the diet industrial complex, they cover it all.
Angela is a committed body shame banisher and advocate for women and girls. She's interviewed many kick arse ladies like Chelsea Winstanley, Rose Matafeo and Penny Ashton (for a menopause story) and in this interview they cover the excitement of orgasms, being addicted to addicts and how to let go of being concerned about fat fingers.
CW: Bulimia, Institutionalisation, Disordered Eating, Addiction.Support the show
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Waaaay back in August 2023 Penny dropped in on Amanda Kennedy's house in West Auckland to discuss her body, her dewy complexion and her adult onset epilepsy. One half of the comedy duo The Fan Brigade, the librettist couple behind NZ Opera's The Unruly Tourists, Amanda was dealing with her recent diagnoses of ADHD, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome AND epilepsy. But was still smiling, particularly about her magical pussy. She regaled Penny with tales of getting nude in Japan, breaking her nose on the floor in her first seizure, her refusal to be committed and how her period was basically The Hoover Dam.
Warning: Explicit pussy and bonus dog content. Not at the same time.Support the show
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The time has come, the research is in, the arse is too sore, the foot annoying, the new upper belly is sticking out too far... it is time for the HRT! Two days after her epic 50th birthday party Penelope Patchstart is slapping on some Estradot in the low dose of 25 somethings and seeing if it is the golden elixir of her dreams. Dreams can flounder on the rocks of reality of course, but how will you know if you don't try?
In her very first unboxing podcast ovum Penelope describes the experience of being a virgin again after 32 years, then snips up a patch and slaps it on almost as quickly as she once.. slapped it off. She might even be a grown up now.Support the show
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After her ballet teacher wouldn't let a very young Amy dance purely on on foot, she readjusted her life ambitions to being a pathologist. Inspired by forensic stories from her parents and from novels by Kathy Reichs, (the inspiration for the TV series Bones) she set her sights on dead people and being the last voice for those who can no longer speak. Penny dropped in on her Palmerston North Dr's office to discuss her journey with her own "meat suit" and how her day job of performing over 2500 autopsies on has led her to more acceptance of its miraculous abilities.
Stay tuned for an aural strip tease and showcase of tattoos, discussions of roller derby bad-assery and how beautiful a human brain is when cut into slices.
CW: Discussions of bodies, decaying flesh and stillbirth. But ultimately an uplifting focus on the positivity in the human existence and a celebration of science and self acceptance.Support the show
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Performer, director, side show starlet, writer and all round showbiz whiz Lizzie Tollemache may have been travelling the world hammering nails into her head and making thousands of people laugh, but underneath all that was a diagnosis lurking that would change her whole perspective on life. Penny visited her carnie friend's Christchurch home to learn all about the realisation she gained in lockdown that led to her ADHD epiphany and whole new lease on life.
From her ten year old love of theatre, to her crying on the floor like a raccoon, to convincing herself she was a piece of shit, Lizzie is disarmingly honest about her body's journey to feeling good 7/10 times now on average. She regales Penny with tales of youthful people pleasing, fleshy pleasing and rebuilding into the person she is happy to be today.
Promise and Promiscuity is on this week in Palmerston Northshire! https://www.centrepoint.co.nz/promise-and-promiscuitySupport the show
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Hello lovely Showy Ovarians, Penny's back with another Showy Ovaries Live! This time with her comedy compatriot, fellow tenacious broad and Bette Midler lover; Justine Smith.
They rendezvoused onstage at Q Theatre in the 2023 NZ International Comedy Festival to discuss how their bodies have taken them through being a woman in comedy since the late 90's. Justine had a tattoo-off with a fellow Disney lover in the audience, they then discussed the #metoo movement in NZ Comedy, some other 'movements', their worst introductions to the stage from MC's and their own insecurities, bra sizes and triumphs within the industry.
It's unfiltered, bawdy and funny AF as they laugh together at society's bullshit and their journey to giving exponentially less f**ks.
Most Definitely Adult content.Support the show
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Queen of Christchurch's Court Theatre stage, Eilish Moran took some time out of her packed schedule to chat to Penny about her body, her menopause and being in Penny's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility at the Court in February 2023. Penny was excited to get to know a woman she saw onstage all through her youth and adolescence in such plays as Little Shop of Horrors, The Crucible and so much more.
Eilish was so generous sharing her parent's dementia journeys, her stories of eating disorders and the roles she has both loved and the ones that got away. Penny, Eilish and Poppy the dog, enjoyed scones and a coffee in her 19th Century country cottage as they laughed about boobs, puberty and the fact that one of them kept farting.
Book here for Showy Ovaries Live in Auckland on Sat 20th May: https://www.comedyfestival.co.nz/find-a-show/showy-ovaries-live/
Book here for The Tempestuous from June 13th: https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2023/jun/the-tempestuous
Book for Eilish's play Appropriate in Christchurch: https://courttheatre.org.nz/whats-on/appropriate/Support the show
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Hello all you wondrous Showy Ovarians, Penny Ashton is back for Season Three! Yes release the fireworks and say huzzah Showy days are here again in a season where we will be pivoting away from focusing mainly on menopause and opening up to our bodies in all their glory! Kicking things off with The "O" Show from the Hamilton Arts Festival recorded on February 26th 2023. Another fun live record peppered with diary readings from Ashton's adolescence for added teenage angst and idiocy.
Jackie Clarke rejoins Penny to muse on their bodies and all the fun things it can do like swear, pash, orgasm and pump out food for a child. Stand by to hear Jackie terrorise Penny about child birth, hear how Penny weighed her tits and ponder how a vibrator can be like a VCR.
Thanks to Geoff Turkington and the Hamilton Arts Festival for having us.
FYI Showy Ovaries will be less regular for season three, no matter how much Metamucil we chew, with a brand new show launching on June 13th Penny is a little mired in show shizzle but will be popping in to keep you amused and titillated. Head to www.hotpink.co.nz to see all the details of all her shows in 2023.Support the show
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It's a surprise Xmas Special for Showy Ovaries! Tune in to hear Penny chat to her husband Matt from different rooms in their house. Why might that be???? Listen in and find out. Hear them pass some isolation time over the festive season by chatting the presents of Xmas past, hear some ukulele carols and find out what moves Matt to tears. No it's not Christmas Cracker Jokes... though there are a lot of them included FREE OF CHARGE. You lucky things.
Meri Kirihimete!!
PS Matt's new job is a bike salesman. Should probably have said that.
Notes: You too can dress like Noddy Holder. https://www.amazon.com/Orion-Costumes-Bangin-Holder-Costume/dp/B00MNG0982
Where to buy a bike: https://www.99bikes.co.nz/pages/glen-innes-bike-store
Warning: Contains rambling.Support the show
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In the very last little dribble of Showy Ovaries Season Two, here's one last ovum all about your hostess with the most chest's relationship and journey with HER body through her life. If it's good to gander at her guest's goose, so must she talk turkey and be honest about her own twisty tale of bodily acceptance. So Penny is here to talk about her epilepsy medicine's effects on her adolescence and early adulthood, about her intolerance for no orgasms, about her squeamishness around butts, about alllllll the salads AND to finally mostly coming to love the skin she's in. She knows ultimately she's been really lucky and knows she has a lot of privilege, not least of which to have all of you listen to her talk about her colon.
Til Season Three... Stay Juicy Everybody. (But not in the colon... well not too much anyways. OK leaving now.)
Book here for Olive Copperbottom in Wellington: https://nz.patronbase.com/_Circa/Productions/2226/PerformancesSupport the show
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To end Showy Ovaries Season Two we have the raucous, ribald, squirty and hilarious recording of Showy Ovaries Live taken at the Suter Theatre on Friday October 21st for the Nelson Arts Festival. Penny was like really really really excited to welcome back Nicky Pellegrino and Niki Bezzant, together with 140 cheering punters to discuss their books, their menopauses and women's health in general. They chat about David Bowie's influence on Niki's bits, blinding rage, fanny physio, snake oiliness, tongue gymnastics and the joy of unleashing the menopausal glare with no fucks left to give. With a Q&A at the end we shared more stories with the fabulous audience.
Thanks so much to Kerry Sunderland, the curator of the Pukapuka Talks at the Nelson Festival. Check out her podcast here: https://deathwalkersguidetolife.com/ Thanks to techs Sam and Nick and the whole festival team.
Nicky Pellegrino's Book: https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/dont-sweat-it/35315687
Nicky's Fiction Website: https://www.nickypellegrino.com/
Niki Bezzant's Book: https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/this-changes-everything/35442460
Niki's Website: https://www.nikibezzant.com/
Photo by Steve Hussey Photography
Most definitely Adult content!
There's even a nice review: https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/130266683/showy-ovaries-a-raucous-introduction-to-the-change-generation-x-style
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The deputy mayor of Nelson until a matter of weeks ago, Judene Edgar was happy to beam into Penny's office to celebrate no longer being a target for councilphobes and her relief at being released from the bondage of reading 1700 page agendas. A playwright, improviser, governance expert, former Councillor and loyal friend, Judene's perimenopause is at 6 years and running with her having suffered from various symptoms and some debilitating side effects along the way. She chatted with Penny about getting the perfect haircut, about some of the vile comments she has received, about lecturing her sons on why she is shouting at them, and how Nelson Hospital is trying to kill her.
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It's World Menopause Day and what better guest to revisit than the very woman who told Penny that the day existed in the first place. Tusiata Avia was Showy Ovaries third ever guest, and in their conversation she alerted Penny to the fact World Menopause Day was just around the corner. So Penny leapt to action and launched the whole shebang on World Menopause Day.
A year later Tusiata wanted to tell Penny how listening to Showy Ovaries over the past year has changed the whole way she looks at her own menopause, about how she is now on HRT, and how she's shedding her culty tendencies of the past. They chatted about her Scientology youth, her yearning to have a her epilepsy under control and about how some surgeons can be total dickheads.
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This week Penny is welcoming current Dominion Post and Stuff Wellington editor Anna Fifield, who moved back to NZ in 2020 after a glittering 20 year career as a globe-trotting foreign correspondent. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed biography of the North Korean leader; The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un.
Despite fearlessly go live on Facebook in North Korea and brushing shoulders with the Obamas in Washington, Anna confessed to be nervous to finally reveal in public the story of her own early menopause. They chatted about cronification, her son's new found love of living in NZ and the reactions she got for putting the provocative word cunt on the front page of the Dominion Post. As you do.
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In March 2020, NZ Girl and Powered by Flossie co-founder, Jenene Crossan, (Ngai Tahu) flew back to NZ from London and a pesky spiky virus hitched on for the ride. Developing Covid a few days after landing, Jenene became NZ's 37th covid case but one of its most visible after going public on instagram. After a particularly brutal case she is still left with ramifications and has become a long covid survivor, spokesperson and case study. She also got horrendously attacked both from online trolls, but also from her own body as covid wreaked havoc on various organs and systems. She took some time to beam into Penny to talk about her endometriosis, her hysterectomy and early surgical menopause, her breast implants' reactions to covid, her fertility journey and how Disney can f**k right off.
CW/TW: Infertility, Miscarriage, Trolling.
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NZ's very own Dr Hu took some time out from her Multiple Sclerosis and disability advocacy to chat to Penny about her incredible life. From having her whakapapa stripped from her birth certificate when she was adopted, to her surviving sexual assault and familial abuse, to discovering her various indigenous identities, to her fistful of academic qualifications, Dr Huhana has navigated through it all with a wide smile and laugh, and since 1996 in her wheelchair; The Tardis. Her story is the living embodiment of resilience, and her empathy for others be they disabled, trauma survivors, trans, indigenous or queer, is what drives her advocacy. Oh they get to menopause eventually, and the reproductive cycle in disabled women.
Also includes a bitsflash for VNN.
CW/TW: Talk of rape, child abuse, cancer, dioxin poisoning, abuse in care, eating disorders.
https://centrepoint.co.nz/olive-copperbottom
https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-19/vaccine-report-overview.asp (This has the latest vaccine reports as Penny is aware up to three deaths are suspected from the vaccine.)Support the show
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Freelance writer Sarah Connor was 46 when her usually trustworthy body started misbehaving. Anxiety, panic attacks, loss of joy and lack of sleep saw her undertake an investigation into just what the hell was happening. She visited a litany of specialists before finally settling on a visit to the Wellington Menopause Clinic that changed her life.
Once diagnosed and using HRT to amazing effect, Sarah realised she had to spread the word and so Menopause Over Martinis was born on World Menopause Day 2020. It is a movement that encourages others to hold their own potluck dinner parties, or any gathering, and spread crucial menopause information. In two years the public Facebook page has swelled to over 2600 members and is a great hub for chat, solidarity and information sharing. Sarah has featured on Radio NZ, in various books around menopause and is now making regular presentations to business gatherings around menopause/ruahinetanga.
One conversation at a time, her mission is for everyone to feel more informed, understood and supported during this normal, inevitable and important stage of life. She and Penny chatted about her fabulous relationship with her body, her incredible gratitude to her partner and family, her getting used to being the one in the spotlight, and how martinis aren't mandatory.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/menopauseovermartinis.org
https://www.menopauseovermartinis.org/
Ten things to do on World Menopause Day: https://www.facebook.com/groups/menopauseovermartinis.org/permalink/1120972925505072
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