Dr June Oscar AO is a is a proud Bunuba woman from the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. Her remarkable decades-long career has taken her from a small office in a cattle station in a tiny Western Australian town, to serving a five-year term as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. June was the first woman to hold this role in its 20-year history and used her position to advocate for, and empower, indigenous women and...

Angie Murimirwa personifies the transformative power of education. Growing up in Zimbabwe, Angie was one of the first girls to receive support from the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) to go to secondary school. Angie is now the organisation’s CEO. In this episode Julia - who is Patron of CAMFED - and Angie discuss the huge barriers to education that many girls still face, and the impact finishing school has on not only an individual, but also their family and community. They also talk...

It’s been arguably the most eventful US Presidential campaign in history and the stakes couldn’t be higher, not just for the United States, but for the world. There’s been two assassination attempts on Republican nominee Donald Trump, who became the first US President to be convicted of a felony over hush money payments to an adult film star. We've seen President and Democratic nominee Joe Biden sensationally withdraw from the race after the most disastrous presidential debate performance in...

In this episode of Julia’s Book Club, Julia and co-host Sarah Holland-Batt delve into the latest novel by best-selling author, Elif Shafak. There are Rivers in the Sky charts the story of three characters from across history brought together by two great rivers, with one epic poem flowing through the story. Spanning centuries and continents, the novel follows a single drop of water from the Tigris to the Thames, from antiquity to the 19th century to the modern day. While exploring the rich...

Alexis Wright is one of the most highly-regarded Australian authors in recent times, winning both the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize - twice. Her work is challenging the traditional publishing world and asking some tough questions. But her passions extend far beyond writing. In this episode, Julia explores Alexis’ early beginnings as a young activist, her lifelong dedication to Indigenous land rights and her concerns around global warming, as well as her literary...

In this episode of Julia's Book Club, Julia and Kathy Lette sit down to discuss Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. Blue Sisters is the second novel from Mellors, following her bestselling debut Cleopatra and Frankenstein. It tells the story of three very different sisters – strait-laced lawyer Avery, party girl Lucky and stoic world champion boxer Bonnie – who are torn apart by grief and scattered to different corners of the globe after the sudden tragic death of their fourth sister, Nicky. As the...

Elif Shafak is a best selling author, a political scientist and an advocate for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of expression. In this episode Julia and Elif journey on a candid and deep conversation about Elif’s childhood in Turkey, what drew her to writing, and the lengths she’s had to go to keep telling the stories of those who are often silenced. They also delve into Elif’s spectacular new novel There are Rivers in the Sky, and discuss why tackling the world’s water crisis is...

In this month’s Book Club episode, Julia and Kathy Lette explore Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by internationally-renowned author, Salman Rushdie. In his memoir, the Booker Prize winner recounts the horrifying moment he was stabbed, almost to death, while on stage in upstate New York, preparing to deliver a lecture on keeping writers safe from harm. Julia and Kathy examine his incredible literary career, his life under 24-hour surveillance and the fatwa which led to the...

In this episode Julia sits down with Domtila Chesang, an incredibly courageous woman who has dedicated her life to ending female genital mutilation in her home country, Kenya.  In this powerful conversation Domtila explains how the devastatingly harmful practice impacts girls and women around the world, and how she’s working to educate and empower communities in order to stamp it out. She details the pivotal moment in her life that started her journey as an activist.  Julia and Domtila also...

In this month’s Book Club episode, Julia and Sarah Holland-Batt discuss The Wren, The Wren by Man Booker prize winner, Anne Enright. Shortlisted for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction, the novel is told in three voices and explores an Irish family’s love, betrayal and intergenerational trauma. Julia and Sarah delve into Enright’s poetry and unique writing style. Show notes: The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright is published by Penguin and available at all good bookstores:...

Katrina Gorry is a trailblazer on and off the pitch. Last year she stole our hearts in her record-breaking performance in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, making the highest number of tackles and covering the most ground of any player in the tournament. Katrina helped the Matildas reach the semi-finals for the first time ever, catapulting her and the rest of the team to the status of national treasures and putting women’s football on the map in Australia for the first time. Speaking to Julia just...

In this episode of Julia's Book Club, Julia and Sarah Holland-Batt sit down together in London to discuss The Sun Walks Down, by Australian author Fiona McFarlane. The Sun Walks Down tells the story of a remote South Australian town in the 1880s where a young boy has gone missing during a dust storm. As the community rallies to find 6 year old Denny Wallace, readers experience the search, the town dynamics and the complex landscape surrounding them from the perspective of various characters,...

For many Australians, and tennis fans around the world, Jelena Dokic is a household name. In this episode, she opens up to Julia about her childhood surviving poverty and fleeing war-torn Yugoslavia, to her meteoric rise to fame on the tennis court, all the while silently suffering at the hands of an abusive father. Now, the self-described 'victim, survivor, thriver' speaks openly about how she’s overcoming her mental health struggles and vicious online trolls to lead a happy and fulfilling...

In this month’s Book Club episode Julia sits down with her good friend, best-selling author Kathy Lette, to discuss The Fraud, by British writer Zadie Smith. The Fraud is a historical fiction novel set in the Victorian era, centred around a real life London court case - The Tichborne Trial. England is captivated by the case, in which a man claims to be Sir Roger Tichborne - the heir to a large fortune and long believed dead.  Julia and Kathy delve into the book’s exploration of race, gender,...

Katy Gallagher is Australia’s Federal Minister for Women, Minister for Finance and Minister for the Public Service. In this candid conversation Julia and Katy delve into Katy’s early life growing up in Canberra, the tragic loss that shaped her path forward, her career in ACT and federal politics and how she’s working to better the lives of all Australian women through the Federal Government’s new strategy for gender equality. Show notes: Learn more about the Federal Government’s strategy for...

In the first ever Book Club episode of A Podcast of One’s Own, Julia and co-host Sarah Holland-Batt delve into Australian author Anna Funder’s new work Wifedom. Wifedom tells the untold story of Eileen O'Shaughnessy and her marriage to George Orwell, one of the most famed English writers of all time. Funder recreates the Orwell’s’ marriage, taking readers through the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War in London. Eileen’s story has been largely ignored by the history books, and as...

In this episode, Julia sits down with activist, sexual consent champion and a voice for her generation, Chanel Contos. Chanel was a catalyst for transforming how consent education works in Australia. In 2021, aged just 22, she sparked a national media storm when she exposed the alarming level of sexual assault in Sydney private schools. From here, the “Teach Us Consent” Campaign was born –  an online petition asking for sexual consent education in Australian schools, which quickly gained more...

In the final episode of 2023, Julia takes a look back at the incredible conversations of Season 5. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Mostyn has had a formidable career in executive positions, working across business, sport, climate change, the arts, policy and not for profit. She recently led the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, and was the first woman AFL Commissioner, where she spearheaded the creation of a women’s league.  Now Sam is taking over from Julia as Chair of Beyond Blue, Australia’s leading mental health support service. In this episode, Julia and Sam discuss mental health, gender equality and how...

Elly Desmarchelier is a proud disabled woman who uses her voice to advocate for the 1 in 5 Australians living with disability.  Elly was the public face of a national campaign to maintain and defend the integrity of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme, taking the fight all the way to Parliament House in Canberra. Elly and Julia discuss the barriers and discrimination Elly has faced and overcome throughout her life, and her determination to pave a smoother path for the next...

In this episode, Julia is joined by music legend, humanitarian and activist, Annie Lennox. Hailed as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone, Annie has won more Brit Awards than any other female artist in history, sold over 80 million records worldwide as a solo artist and in Eurythmics with Dave Stewart and was named "the most successful female British artist in UK music history" by the Official Charts Company in June 2013.   In 2011, Annie was awarded an OBE for her...

Turia Pitt is the epitome of determination and grit. She’s been defying expectations ever since she was caught in a grassfire at 24, suffering burns to 65% of her body. Surviving against overwhelming odds, she’s rebuilt her life and is now a business owner, writer, motivational speaker and Mum. Julia and Turia discuss the day that changed her life forever, how she forged a new path for herself and the gender inequality that persists in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Angela Rayner is the Deputy Leader of the British Labour Party. She has a remarkable life story, which she shared with Julia at a live event hosted by The Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King's College London. In this episode, you'll hear that conversation, recorded live from the event. Angela not only spoke to Julia about her own life, but they also discussed the gendered barriers on the political frontline and what a general election in the United Kingdom would mean for women. ...

When the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 after two decades of democratic rule, the world watched in horror. Despite initial promises that women would be able to exercise their rights within Sharia Law, the Taliban has systematically excluded women and girls from public life. In the months that have followed, the situation has only grown more desperate for Afghanistan’s women, who now live under one of the most restrictive regimes in the world. They are unable to access secondary...