Ladies, We Need To Talk

Latest Episodes:

Perimenopause: but aren’t I too young? Mar 25, 2025

Show notes

If you think perimenopause is reserved for mid-life, think again.

When other 20 and 30-somethings are out partying or decorating the nursery, how do you cope with night sweats, hot flashes, brain fog and a tired libido?

What's it like to have the body of a young woman, filled with the hormones of someone decades older?

Yumi Stynes meets women going through perimenopause far earlier than they expected to learn how they manage their symptoms and cope with the prospect of infertility.

She also sits down with women's health expert and GP, Dr Natasha Vavrek who explains the science behind premature menopause and POI (Primary Ovarian Insufficiency).

This episode contains references to perimenopause, primary ovarian insufficiency, poi, premature menopause, sex, libido, hot flashes, bleeding, relationships, cancer, chemotherapy, youth, ageing, fertility.

Perimenopause: how to have better sex Mar 18, 2025

Show notes

What happens to your sex life in perimenopause? When Salt-N-Pepa wrote Let's Talk About Sex, they didn't get to that bit. Well, Yumi Stynes is here to update the lyrics! In this no-holds-barred episode she meets women who have experienced changes to their libido and sexual function during this phase of life and finds out what help is at hand. Yumi chats to women about what got them back in the groove and sits down with sex and perimenopause specialist Dr Sheryl Kingsberg, Professor in Reproductive Biology, Urology and Psychiatry at Case Western University.

This episode contains references to perimenopause, sex, painful sex, relationships, marriage, libido, vaginal dryness, irritation, genito-urinary syndrome of menopause and menopausal hormone therapy, or MHT.

Perimenopause: lifting the brain fog Mar 11, 2025

Show notes

Is perimenopause brain fog jamming up your workday? Are you constantly in a bad mood or irrationally angry at your kids who are only as annoying as usual? Is your memory failing you for the simplest words?

Riding the hormonal rollercoaster of perimenopause has a huge impact on our brains — from mood to memory, sleep to stress.

Come hang with Yumi Stynes as she meets women convinced that they're losing their minds or even going through dementia, but are, in fact, in the depths of perimenopause.

Plus, Yumi chats to Dr Pauline Maki, a leading professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, to find out how can we shift our brains into gear during this phase of life.

This episode contains references to perimenopause, depression, anxiety, rage, anger, irritation, mood swings, hot flashes, sleep disturbance, menopausal hormone therapy, women, parenting, mothering and relationships.

Perimenopause: WTF is happening to our bodies Mar 04, 2025

Show notes

Hot flashes. Night sweats. Aching joints. Sore boobs. Welcome to your body in perimenopause!

In episode one of this four-part series, Yumi Stynes speaks to women in the thick of perimenopause and battling physical symptoms. She also sits down with Dr Susan Davis, endocrinologist and world-leading expert on sex hormones and ageing to learn the best treatments for bothersome symptoms and how look after yourself in this stage of life. No sweat!

Essential listening if you're going through perimenopause right now, or for those wanting to know what's over the hormonal horizon.

This episode contains references to perimenopause, hot flashes, night sweats, HRT, Hormone Replacement Therapy, MHT, Menopausal Hormone Therapy, middle-age, women, hormones, vaginal dryness, ovarian retirement, estrogen, thermostat, sleep disruption, exercise, fitness, bone density.

INTRODUCING – The perimenopause diaries Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

Perimenopause: it's a huge physical, mental and sexual upheaval in a woman's life and yet, there's so much confusion as to how to make it through.

Perimenopause is the months and years leading up to the last period, where a woman's hormones get feisty on their way down to retirement. This hormone fluctuation can lead to a range of symptoms, from hot flashes and night sweats to painful sex, mood swings and RAGE!

In this four-part series, Yumi Stynes speaks to women in the thick of perimenopause as well as world-leading experts in the field to find out how to best manage during this phase without going postal.

This episode contains references to perimenopause, hot flashes, night sweats, HRT, Hormone Replacement Therapy, MHT, Menopausal Hormone Therapy, estrogen, vaginal dryness, vaginal atrophy, brain fog, depression, anxiety, rage, anger, irritation, primary ovarian insufficiency, genito-urinary syndrome of menopause.

Surrogacy: why women carry babies for others Feb 25, 2025

Show notes

What's it like to carry and give birth to a child for someone else? What compels a woman to take on something so profound? There's more to surrogacy than cooking a bun in an 'oven', it's complex as hell.

In this episode Yumi Stynes meets women who have been surrogates and hears about the joy and the heartache the experience can bring.

This episode contains references to surrogacy, family, baby, parenting, adoption, Surrogacy Act, transfer of parentage, counselling, depression, mental health, pregnancy, birth, suicidal ideation.

Should I have a kid? The mother of all decisions with Gina Rushton and Penny Greenhalgh Feb 18, 2025

Show notes

Babies. Some women know they want them, others know they absolutely don't, and then there are the women who find themselves trying to make the call one way or another before biology beats them to it.

But how do you weigh up something so monumental? And can you ever be sure that you've made the "right" decision when it comes to starting a family?

Yumi Stynes sits down with journalist and writer, Gina Rushton and comedian, Penny Greenhalgh to discuss this mother of all decisions.

This episode contains references to fertility, age, biological clock, women, anxiety, parenting, mothering, mum, aunty, spare parent, The Parenthood Dilemma, The Most Important Job in the World.

The pain of friendship break-ups Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

Our best friends are our ride-or-die, snort-laughing, crisis solving buttresses. But what happens when a friendship ends?

In a romantic break-up, there's a cultural handbook instructing us all to sanctioned crying, bitching and ice-cream eating. Playlists, movies and a canon of literature are ready to validate the catastrophic pain of heartbreak. But with romantic break-ups, there aren't the same support systems in place to help us put back together the pieces.

Yumi Stynes speaks to women who've been through the heartache of a friendship break-up to find out how they moved on, and what marks their former besties left behind.

This episode contains references to break-ups, friendship, romantic break-ups, heart break, fighting, interpersonal tension, best friends, loss.

Quitting men: Hope Woodard's 'boysober' movement Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

Swipe, date, sex, repeat. So went the life of Hope Woodard, constantly on the apps and looking for validation in the form of male attention. This perpetual cycle started from a young age and by the time she was in her mid-twenties, Hope was done. Done with terrible first dates. Done with being ghosted. Done with men. So, she set herself a challenge, to give up dating and sex for a year. Hope was going boysober.

Hope chats with Yumi Stynes about the pleasure of finally getting to know herself, what she learnt from a year off the dating train, and why she hates the term 'celibate'.

This episode contains references to dating, dating apps, boy sober, heterosexual cynicism, psychology, relationships, self development, self improvement, celibacy.

The science of sex with Dr Rena Malik Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

When Dr Rena Malik posted a video on her YouTube channel called 'Where's the G-Spot?', twelve million people tuned in to hear the answer. The urologist and sex educator has carved out a space as a reliable and trustworthy source of sex education.

But Dr Rena hasn't always been so open. She grew up in an Indian family that didn't talk about sex, no sir. Then she went to medical school, where she learnt about the female body and its magical powers. She says the more you know about your anatomy and the origins of pleasure, the easier it is to have a great time in bed.

So, get your notebooks, it's time to go back to school.

This episode contains references to sex, vulva, penis, clitoris, sex education, g-spot, pleasure, marriage, sex schedules, relationships, marriage, long-term relationships, orgasm, female pleasure, communication.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected