Putting survivors of violence at the centre of the story.

Aja Barber has pledged to never take a dollar from fast fashion, and in her 2021 book 'Consumed' she explains why. She is passionate about racial justice and exposing endemic injustices in our consumer and fashion industries. Aja is also no stranger to campaigning for change. Her Instagram video 'Why Performative Allyship is Triggering', which called out brands and influencers for monetising the Black Lives Matter movement, has accumulated over one million views. The video also put a...

This week Jamila Rizvi and Astrid Edwards are joined by Future Women's Bojana Kos.  Chapter 1: Jamila asks whether or not books can help drive our understanding of sustainability, and Astrid takes issues with the term itself. Chapter 2: Jamila brings Ash Davidson's powerful debut, 'Damnation Spring' to the podcast. Chapter 3: Astrid once again picks a non-fiction work and recommends 'Under a White Sky: The nature of the future' by Pulitzer-prize winning writer Elizabeth Kolbert. Join us...

Lisa Millar is the co-host of ABC TV's News Breakfast, and 'Daring to Fly' is her memoir about conquering fear and finding joy. Lisa returned to the ABC in Australia after finishing a decade-long posting as bureau chief in both London and Washington DC, covering some of the world's biggest stories. She began her career at the Gympie Times in 1988 and has worked in print, TV and radio. She won a Walkley Award in 2005 for investigative reporting. CHAT WITH US Join our discussion using...

This week Jamila Rizvi and Astrid Edwards are joined by Future Women's Ella Jackson.  Chapter 1: Jamila, Astrid and Ella consider the different ways women choose to tell their own stories, and the stories of those who have come before them. Chapter 2: Jamila brings Lucy Adlington's historical fiction novel 'The Dressmakers of Auschwitz' to the podcast.  Chapter 3: This week Astrid chooses a non-fiction read and recommends 'My Life in Full: Work, family, and our future' by Indra Nooyi (the...

Mark Humphries is the resident satirist on ABC-TV's 7.30, and he recently published 'On Politics and Stuff' with Evan Williams. In this interview, Mark considers the role of satire in politics and tackles the question of how to satirise female politicians without being misogynist. Mark's other writing has appeared in The Guardian and the Sun-Herald, and he has previously created satirical sketches for SBS's The Feed and ABC's The Roast. CHAT WITH US Join our discussion using...

This week Jamila Rizvi and Astrid Edwards are bring their favourites to the table, and they are joined by Future Women favourite Madison Howarth. Chapter 1: Everyone brought memoir this week! So to kick off the episode, Jamila, Astrid and Madi reflect on how memoir has changed over the last decade (for the better, as we are seeing fewer formal autobiographies and more stories of lived experience being published). Chapter 2: Jamila suggests reading 'All About Yves: Notes from a transition'...

Annika Smethurst is the state political editor at The Age newspaper in Melbourne. She is a double Walkley Award winner and has two Melbourne Quill Awards for political reporting. In 2019, Annika became the accidental poster woman for press freedom when her house was raided by the AFP over a story she wrote revealing a government plan to allow the Australian Signals Directorate to spy on Australians. In her 2020 essay, 'On Secrets', she explored the impact of the raids and examined the...

Once again, Jamila Rizvi and Astrid Edwards consider the world through the lens of reading and books. Chapter 1: So, what is politics and why does it matter? And what do books have to do with politics anyway? Chapter 2: Jamila delights in revisiting the revised and updated edition of Julia Baird's 'Media Tarts'. Chapter 3: Astrid presents Marion Wilkinson's 'The Carbon Club: How a network of influential climate sceptics, politicians and business leaders fought to control Australia's...

Mark Brnadi is an award-winning writer of literary crime. His stories tend to focus on the darkness in the world as experienced from young or disadvantaged protagonists. 'The Others' is his third - and perhaps most haunting - novel. Mark's bestselling novel, 'Wimmera', won the coveted British Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger, and was named Best Debut at the 2018 Australian Indie Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Literary Fiction Book of the...

Jamila Rizvi is back! We have missed her, and from this week Jamila is back leading our discussion of all things books. Chapter 1: As they so often do, Jamila and Astrid consider the harder things in life. This week, the theme is darkness, and they reflect on what they like to read and when. Chapter 2: Jamila introduces Jaivet Ealom's 2021 memoir, 'Escape from Manus'. Jaivet is the only person known to have escaped from Manus Island, and his life experience is truly extraordinary. Despite...

The Melbourne Writers Festival was curtailed in September 2021 because of the pandemic, so Jamila Rizvi and Astrid spoke to two of the authors who would have appeared live on stage. Claire Thomas discusses her novel 'The Performance' - an extraordinary exploration of women's inner lives that is both enthralling and profound. Sophie Gonzales reflects on her YA novel 'Only Mostly Devastated', which was recently shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and is a book you want to...

Helen McCabe once again joins Astrid Edwards on Anonymous Was A Woman. Tis week they agree and love two wonderful debut works of fiction (unlike last week!). Chapter 1: This week our loose theme is questioning. Astrid asks Helen what she thinks will happen in 2022, and Helen has a great answer. Chapter 2: Helen recommends 'Small Joys of Real Life' by Allee Richards. Chapter 3: Astrid discusses 'Other People's Clothes' by Calla Henkel.  Join us on Thursday to hear Jamila Rizvi and Astrid...

Grace Jennings-Edquist is a journalist at the ABC, where she writes articles on issues including gender equality and wellbeing. 'The Yes Woman: How to reclaim your power by finally saying no' is her first book. As a former senior editor at Mamamia Women’s Network, Grace has written extensively about women’s mental health for an audience of millennial Australian women. Grace’s writing has appeared widely online, including in The Guardian, Crikey, The Australian, news.com.au, New Statesman and...

Helen McCabe once again joins Astrid Edwards on Anonymous Was A Woman to discuss equality and equity, and of course, the latest in fiction and non-fiction. Chapter 1: Astrid and Helen consider equity (and yes, both are still in lockdown in Melbourne and Sydney). Chapter 2: Helen shares her vehement thoughts on 'The View Was Exhausting', the debut novel from couple Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta. Chapter 3: Astrid recommends Lucia Osborne-Crowley's memoir 'I Choose Elena' and follow up...

Danielle Binks is a writer, reviewer and literary agent. This year she released 'The Monster of Her Age', her debut YA novel. The Year the Maps Changed, Danielle's debut middle-grade novel, was a CBCA Notable Book for Younger Readers 2021, longlisted for the ABIA Book of the Year Award for Younger Children 2021, shortlisted for the Readings Children's Book Prize 2021 and longlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2021.  In 2017, she edited and contributed to Begin, End, Begin, an anthology of new...

Season 5 of Anonymous Was A Woman starts today. To kick off the season, Helen McCabe joins Astrid Edwards (we promise, Jamila Rizvi will be with us on Thursday). Chapter 1: We picked a happy topic to kick off the season! Helen and Astrid consider the idea of innovation, and areas where women are the ones driving the change. Chapter 2: Helen introduces the timely 'Vaxxers: The Inside Story of the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine and the Race Against the Virus' by Professor Sarah Gilbert and Dr...

Join journalist and presenter, Leila McKinnon, as she chats to inspirational women who are living their lives, their way. Find out what drives them; the lessons they've learned; and the ones they wish they'd known earlier. Subscribe now or search for 'Future Women Drive' wherever you get your podcasts.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we wait for Season 5 we are bringing back our highest rating episodes. This interview with Louise Milligan was originally released on 5 February 2021. Louise is an investigative reporter for ABC TV's Four Corners and the author of Cardinal, which won the Walkley Book Award and broke massive international news preceding the court case involving one of the most senior members of the Catholic Church. Her second work is Witness: An investigation into the brutal cost of seeking justice. In...

As we wait for Season 5 we are bringing back our highest rating episodes. This interview with Min Jin Lee was originally released on 15 June 2020. Min Jin joined Jamila and Astrid to discuss triumph in literature. The hero’s journey has shaped fiction since before we called it that. Is the heroine's journey different? Chapter 1: Min Jin Lee joins Jamila and Astrid from New York to discuss her novel Pachinko and explore the different ways her female characters experience success and...

As we wait for Season 5 we are bringing back our highest rating episodes. This interview with Tara June Winch was originally released on 20 August 2020. Tara joined Jamila and Astrid from her lockdown in France to discuss creativity and solitude. Tara was awarded the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2020 for The Yield, and the novel was also shortlisted for The Stella Prize. In this interview, Tara reflects on the recent novel, The White Girl, written by her mentor Tony Birch (who was also...

As we wait for Season 5 we are bringing back our highest rating episodes. This interview with Brit Bennett was originally released on 4 February 2021. Brit is an American writer with a brilliant track record. Her debut novel The Mothers (2016) was a New York Times best-seller, as was her second novel, The Vanishing Half (2020). In this interview, Brit talks to Jamila and Astrid about her brilliant novels, and also about some big topics - passing, colourism and the state of the...