The Women Of Ill Repute

Latest Episodes:

Ann Pornel: Force Of Nature Jun 04, 2024

Show notes

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

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George Stroumboulopoulos: Canada's Boyfriend May 28, 2024

Show notes

George Stroumboulopoulos is a man for all seasons. He’s everything: a media personality, broadcaster, former VJ, radio, talk and reality show host, social advocate and one time host of Hockey Night in Canada. Everyone knows George, and George know everyone, but what do we really know about him? He’s 51 and lives in L.A. now, where he does a show for Apple Music. He’s a vegan who embraces a straight edge lifestyle, rides a motorcycle and loves heavy metal.

He’s single (we think, but who knows) and has no plans to ever have children. His life is an open book - you can ask him anything, and we do, about his humble beginnings in West Toronto, the many famous people he’s met and befriended, and the fallout from his all too brief stint hosting Hockey Night. Still, Strombo remains a bit of a mystery, which of course makes him all the more interesting.

No video for this episode - technical issues. Sorry.

You can grab a copy of the transcription 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Loreena McKennitt: Celtic Queen May 21, 2024

Show notes

We had to ask about the red hair, does one get ridiculed or admired? Loreena McKennitt has a mass of beautiful red curls but is mostly admired for her music. When Mo thinks of her, she sees mists and magic and fairy tales. Loreena’s sold more than 14 million albums and toured the world with her harp and her beloved band of fellow musicians. She’s a singer, songwriter and composer with a new album full of early Celtic tunes called “The Road Back Home”, and is going on tour where she hopes the audience will sing along with her!

Loreena’s never had a manager and organizes the tours herself. She says the insurance during Covid was half a million dollars! We talk to her about the joys of touring and about being a privacy activist. Ok, that was our word, Loreena says she’s not an activist, but she sure sounds like one, as she speaks about trying to make the world a better place. She was born in Morden, Manitoba and now lives in Stratford Ontario.

You can watch the show on our YouTube page.

You can grab a copy of the transcription 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erika Casupanan “Sole Survivor” May 14, 2024

Show notes

“Going to the coconut tree”. You hear it all the time on “Survivor”. What does that mean? Erica Casupanan spills the beans. She is the first Canadian to win “Survivor”, and the first Filipino. Tiny and Asian, she was tired of always being underestimated, so she used it on “Survivor 41”. Erika voted out her rivals, won over everyone else, and surprise, she won! More than a million bucks. A bit more than her previous salary as a communications manager, where she saw power dynamics at play. People are treating her very seriously now.

Mo tried to get Wendy to try out for Amazing Race Canada, but Wendy couldn’t imagine life without her special pillow. Then Erika said she was only allowed to wear underwear for the whole show. That had absolutely nothing to do with Wendy’s decision. Really. Erika now does a podcast, called “Happy to See Me”, where she is not so secretly trying to make the world a better place. And to hell with the trolls, winning “Survivor” taught her she can do anything. As for the million bucks, Erica’s only bought one pair of fancy shoes.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

A Transcription of this episode is located on our 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef Michael Smith: What's Cooking? May 07, 2024

Show notes

Michael Smith is a Celebrity Chef who decided he had a problem with the Celebrity part. He’s kind of a big deal, has published several cookbooks, hosted TV shows on the Canadian Food Network, and wore the chef’s hat at some big-name restaurants around the world. Now, tired of Michelin-priced restaurants, he moved to Prince Edward Island and runs the 5-star “Inn at Bay Fortune”, where the farm is as sumptuous as the food. And there are oysters. Some nights he helps shuck 700 of them.

Chef Michael got married, had kids, and embraced his inner tree hugger. He’s a nutritional activist, who says he went through a preachy period, but now he’s just trying to be “real”. We talk to him about tipping (he’s not for it), the show “The Bear” (he loves it), and living on the Island. We didn’t ask him for any potato recipes. Although He’s 6.5 –that would be a lot of potatoes.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

A Transcription of this episode is located on our 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ron James: Rocking The Boat Apr 30, 2024

Show notes

Ron James says comedy should never be mean, but he sure has a lot of opinions! You should hear what he says about Quebec comedians. Is there a geographic link to comedy, a humour gene unique to Eastern Canada? Ron says he learned the power of laughter at his father’s knee in Glace Bay and then Halifax. That’s why he loves to tour, he says laughs are truly the bottom line.Like so many comedians, Ron got his start at Second City in Toronto. Then he moved to

Los Angeles, and hosted a TV show. Alas, the show was short-lived, so Ron moved back and wrote a book called “Up and Down in Shaky Town: One Man’s Journey Through the California Dream”. It got turned into a CTV special, then he wrote and hosted “Blackfly” on Global, and “The Ron James Show” on CBC. And he tours! Ron has been selling out theatres across Canada for years.

Book or go see Ron James here.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

A Transcription of this episode is located on our 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jen Gerson: Mouthy Babe Apr 23, 2024

Show notes

Jen Gerson of “The Line” readily admits to being a mouthy babe, but only when she writes, she insists she is actually shy. Jen says she’s just opinionated, not trying to change anyone’s mind. She argues that’s not a journalist's job, that only activists try to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”. Well, call us afflicted! Her writing makes us think.

Jen has written for The New York Times, The Economist, Macleans, the National Post and The Globe and Mail. Now, she co-hosts “The Line” on Substack with Matt Gurney, and is writing a book about the Satanic Panic! We ask her about the Q-Anon Satanic cult accusations now being slung at the Democrats, and the ongoing attraction of moral panics and conspiracy theories. It seems we eat up all the sex and violence. Amongst all of this, we talk about the changing views on immigration, and how it’s catnip for both Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre.

You should subscribe to The Line's Substack, and their podcast.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

A Transcription of this episode is located on our 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michaela Watkins: Late Bloomer Apr 16, 2024

Show notes

You know you know Michaela Watkins, but you may not know why. Then you remember (or are told) that she’s been in over a hundred sitcoms, dramas and comedies, including a 2 year stint on SNL. And then you remember that you love her, and when you see her latest movie, Suze, you’ll remember why. In Suze, Michaela plays a woman who once wanted more for herself and sets about reclaiming it, with the help of her daughter’s abandoned boyfriend (played by up and coming Canadian actor Charlie Gillespie).

Like Suze, Michaela is a woman whose long overdue time has come. We talk about how she so often plays the friend or the sister to the main character (like her real life pal Julia Louis Dreyfus.) How important kindness becomes as you get older. Coping with menopause, oh, and the trails and tribulations of having ADHD, or working with someone who does. Ahem.

Suze is available on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.

A Transcription of this episode is located on our 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ron Sexsmith: Unsung Hero Apr 09, 2024

Show notes

Ron Sexsmith says “I’m not really shy, I’m just Canadian”. He’s a singer-songwriter who has never had a top 40 hit, is not rich, but is deeply admired by the people he admires most. Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and Gordon Lightfoot, are all, were all, huge fans. Sexmsith’s songs, like “Secret Heart”, have been performed by everyone from Rod Stewart to Feist to Nick Lowe.We spoke to him as he was about to headline at Toronto’s storybook Massey Hall. When Ron was a kid and couldn’t afford a ticket, he’d hang outside to see his heroes, now he’s on the same stage. There’s no Taylor Swift action, but if you look carefully, he does move his hips!

And Ron is happy. He left the bright lights of Toronto and moved to Stratford where he just recorded his 18th album, “The Vivian Line”. Ron’s wife Colleen had to plug in his computer, but you should see him on Twitter/X. The puns are excruciatingly funny, or maybe just excruciating!

You can listen to his new album HERE on any one of the many ways to get music these days.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

A Transcription of this episode is located on our 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dianne Whelan: 500 Days in the Wild Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

Award-winning director and cinematographer Dianne Whelan does not choose easy topics. She’s made docs about Mount Everest, and the Arctic, but this one, about being the first to tackle the whole Trans Canada Trail, takes the cake. Or in this case, the reheated oatmeal. Dianne has called her new documentary “500 Days in the Wild”, because that was the plan, to travel from St. John’s NL. to Victoria B.C., 24 thousand miles in 500 days. Only it took 6 years.

Dianne burnt the original schedule and gave in to a harrowing, grueling, and heart-warming adventure. She began the trek disheartened and disillusioned, her marriage was over, her beloved dog had died, and the world was getting scary. On the trip, she fell in love, learned how people can be extraordinarily kind, and she survived. She came close but was not mauled to death by a bear, her canoe did not get swamped. The doc has stunning shots from across Canada, but what sticks is her confirmation that we are not in charge.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

A Transcription of this episode is located on our 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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