The Women Of Ill Repute Maureen Holloway and Wendy Mesley

Sometimes singers sing about singing, writers write about writing, and podcasters podcast about … yes, podcasting. This episode is actually a live off the floor recording of an interview we did with Sarah Burke, the founder of the Women in Media podcast and network. It takes place in Toronto at the Soundwave Summit, a conference and showcase for independent podcasters.
Sarah tells us about why and how she started her pod, and then her network, and we all have a good chat about the ups and downs of this strange, still nascent little industry. Podcasting is an opportunity for everyone to have a voice. The question is … should they? And if so, how to do it successfully? To be honest, we are still figuring that out ourselves.
A video and transcription of the show are available on the episode page.
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So Wendy never reads sports, but always reads Cathal Kelly, the sports writer at the Globe and Mail. He’s funny and fearless and clever, Cathal just happens to have chosen sports as the best vehicle. We pretended we were going to talk about the upcoming Paris Olympics, and we did! (Cathal loves the Olympics, aka 23-year-olds doing crazy, exceptional things, sometimes involving the River Seine)
We also talk about his book, a memoir Cathal wrote a couple of years ago, called “Boy Wonders”. The book says intimacy makes him nervous, but it’s so revealing. He tells of loving Morrissey of The Smiths and George Orwell, who both argue your dreams usually don’t come true. Just try to be happy, says Cathal, but then why has he not lowered his expectations for his writing? We talk about that, how his mother is still terrifying, and how the perfect way to style your hair is with French Formula hairspray.
A video and transcription of the show are available on the episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
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We both feel like we know her, Martha Chaves is after all the funniest Nicaraguan Canadian LGBTQ+ Stand Up Comedian in the World! We know her best from radio shows like “The Debaters”, and “Because News”. She also teaches comedy at Humber and Metropolitan Toronto University, showing the ropes to people just starting out.
Martha tells us she’s heard and seen lots of sexism, racism and homophobia over the years in Stand Up, but she just pushes ahead. On her own at 17, (leaving Nicaragua is quite the story!) she figured out how to be positive and stay that way. One of her jokes is about Preparation H, and let’s just say it stirred a TV confession….
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
A Transcription of the show is available on the episode page.
You can also watch the show here.
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We love books and authors, we consider a lot of them for our podcast, but Vancouver Island’s Chelsea Wakelyn sent us an intriguing email. So we read her first book and got truly blown away. “What Remains of Elsie Jane” is a quasi-fictional story about losing her beloved partner, father to her kids, to drugs and addiction just as the opioid crisis began sweeping B.C. All while Chelsea was in her 30’s. It sounds like a gut-wrencher. And yes, it’s tragic and raw, but it’s also side-splittingly funny.We talked about being a weirdo, lust, Joan Didion and magical thinking, sneaking cigarettes, and how abstinence is not necessarily a virtue. Chelsea’s long-time day job has been as a toxic drug counsellor. And then, right after we recorded, something happened. Please enjoy the chat, and we’ll update at the end.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
A Transcription of the show is available on the episode page.
You can also watch the show here.
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There are many pathways to fame and fortune, but being exceptionally good at doing laundry is an unusual one. Enter Melissa Dilkes Pateras, whose knowledge of housecleaning tips and tricks has turned her into an internet sensation. Well, that, and her sly sense of humour and unblinking acknowledgement of her sexuality. A resident of Uxbridge, Ontario, and mother of three, Melissa started making videos during the Covid-19 lockdown to entertain herself, and went viral on Facebook, then TikTok, and ultimately an appearance on the CBS Morning Show. She also found love when she connected with her now wife Tracy, who moved from Australia to Canada to be together. We talk love, keeping a clean house, trad wives, and the truth about laundry strips (it’s not good).
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
A Transcription of the show is available on the episode page.
You can also watch the show here.
Melissa is the author of “A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home: Housekeeping Hacks You Can’t Live Without”.
Follow her on Facebook and TikTok.
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There’s no getting away from Ann Pornel, not that you would want to. She’s loud, she’s proud, she’s utterly glamorous and funny as hell. Ann’s a sketch comedian and an actress who is best known as the host of The Great Canadian Baking Show. Born in the Philippines, Ann moved with her family to Canada, then came up through the comedy ranks at the University of Toronto (yes, U of T is a hotbed of comedy). She’s written for Baroness Von Sketch and This Hour has 22 Minutes, and was recently recognized as one of Canada’s Top 25 Immigrants - not bad for a country built by immigrants.
We talk home cooking, recipe boxes, sitting on your front porch, Oprah and Ozempic, owning the word “fat”, and the transformative power of being funny.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices