Podcast of the week: Relatable feminist chat from The State of Us
I'm always on the lookout for deadly new female-led Irish podcasts, so I was pretty delirah to discover The State of Us podcast on a gloomy March evening.
Pared back and progressive, the podcast is a narrative between hosts Jane Casey and Roisin Linnie as they explore various topics afflicting young women.
Touching on FOMO, abortion rights and personal relationship endeavours, the inclusive podcast is essentially an opportunity to eavesdrop on the private conversations of two well-informed and searingly funny females.
Delving into the modern, Irish experience of being a millennial woman, it's phrase after phrase of that uplifting 'hey, I feel that way too' sensation.
From contraceptive disasters to playing the waiting game when it comes to texting a potential future bae, I found myself lapping up the invigorating realness The State of Us provides.
Episode 1 discusses the phenomenon of ageing, the stigma attached to turning 30 and the societal expectations placed on women to have their sh*t sorted out by the time they reach that milestone age.
Exploring the various types of women who seem to have their ducks in a row (the Dublin career girl, the mum of two, the Canadian export, the word traveller etc…) the gals give the suss on how it's simply not possible to know how you life is going to end up, so trash those expectations ASAP.
Oh, and stop putting any kind of faith in the reality of Instagram, thanks for the reminder.
Episode 2 is all about the struggle to be 'the chill girl.'
It seems in our society it's only acceptable to act like you're emotionally stunted in the pursuit of your true love, by pretending you haven't read their texts for two hours and begging friends to go on nights out with you so you can 'casually' bump into the object of your affection.
The episode essentially throws the chill girl concept out the window (then stamps on it, pours petrol over top and lights it on fire for good measure) as Jane and Roisin encourage those with a tendency towards anxiety to stop pretending they're just 'cool with everything,' be that in friendships or relationships. Solid advice.
We're only three episodes in to the podcast (as only three are currently in existence) but so far so good.
Episode 3 goes into excruciating (but intensely interesting) detail about the ins and outs of hormonal contraception.
From heavy flows to an anecdote about urolagnia (pee fetish for the uninitiated) it's a laugh a minute while maintaining the informative tone.
Already keeping my eyes peeled for episode 4…
