The Women Of Ill Repute

Latest Episodes:

Andrea Werhun: Modern Whore Jan 16, 2024

Show notes

Andrea Werhun embraces being called a whore. But she’s really about work, about making money, about boundaries, and yes, having a good time. She’s also an activist who is tired of feeling sex workers should be ashamed. Andrea was an escort and then a stripper for several years. She’s now published a glossy memoir full of naughty pictures and stories and is about to star in a movie about her life. Ok, she’s in her 30’s! Mo and Wendy have issues with creeps, violence, and hygiene, but we sure support rights for all. We talk about generational differences, the need for more protection and less shame, Andrea’s partner, her mother, and the Johns. (The creeps and not creeps).Andrea Werhun is a writer, a comedian, and now an actor. She and Nicole Bazuin have just published “Modern Whore” with Penguin Random House. It’s about to be a major motion picture.

You Can watch the episode on YouTube here.

A transcription of the episode is available here.

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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Pam Anderson: Wild Abandon Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

Happy New Year! According to Hello magazine, this is Pamela Anderson’s year! Or did they mean last year? Either way, we are witnessing a turning point in the life of our favourite Canadian bombshell. Yes, she has moved back to Vancouver Island, and Pamela has not one but two new TV shows, but she’s been making headlines - actual headlines - for daring to go bare. Faced, that is. So we talk about that, and how, despite all the lessons she has supposedly learned, through her activism, her five marriages and two grown children, she still gives herself over to wild abandon.Pamela Anderson is a legend, from the day she was “discovered” in the audience at a BC Lions game, to the pages of Playboy, to a bit part on Home Improvement to the whole Baywatch phenomenon. Then came the marriages, including one to Tommy Lee, and the whole sex tape fiasco. Throughout it all, Pamela has stood up for her beliefs: animal rights, AIDS research, anti-pornography, the support of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Now she’s writing, gardening and cooking just like us! But not like us, because, make-up or no, she’s still PAMELA ANDERSON!.

This episode is supported by Mave & Chez where you can get 10% off with the promo code WOIR at check out.

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

A Year of Repute Dec 25, 2023

Show notes

Join Maureen & Wendy for a special year-end episode celebrating the first full year of Women of Ill Repute! In honour of the fine guests who've graced us with their presence on the show, the Women of Ill Repute go through some of their favourite highlights from this year, such as Rick Mercer, Mary Berg, Marilyn Denis, Colin Mochrie and many others.

Cozy up by the fire, grab a glass of wine, and come celebrate A Year of Ill Repute!

A transcription is available here.

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

Cat Alvarado: Sex and Sensibility Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

We’re not saying emotions aren’t real, or valid, but might they also just be … digestive issues? That’s one of Cat Alvarado’s theories. Cat is not a dietician. She’s a comedian, a self-styled Latina misfit, and a former teen bride (which she says may have happened on a sugar high). We talk about getting kicked out of church, reconciling sexuality with spirituality, and the acceptable number of people one can admit to sleeping with.

Cat Alvarado has over 2 million views on YouTube’s Reel Rejects, was featured on Buzzfeed’s Tasty Channel, as well as the PBS show First Nations Comedy Experience. She hosts the comedy podcast Villains of History @villainsofhistory and has performed at some of the top comedy festivals in North America. Her debut album Off-White is available on Spotify.

You can watch the episode here on YouTube.

A transcription is available here.

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

Hilary MacMillan: Ahead of the Curve Nov 28, 2023

Show notes

Can you be a vegan, a plus-size designer, and a feminist? Hilary MacMillan says of course! She also says age, size, old viewpoints begone, that Mo and Wendy can wear see-through clothes if they want to. (We don’t) Even the dreaded leopard print. It’s back! We talk about Barbie, cute cows, and super thin models. And we reveal more secrets…check us out!

Hilary MacMillan is a Canadian who designs contemporary cruelty-free clothes, which means no fur, no leather, no silk or wool. Her designs are full of stylish alternatives, styles and patterns. And they are available in sizes XS -4X. She has her own eponymous brand.

You can watch this episode here.

A transcription is available here.

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

Carolyn Taylor: Buffoon Makes Good Nov 21, 2023

Show notes

It’s real! After a year of trying we finally got Carolyn Taylor to come on the podcast. She was one of the Baronesses on the comedy series Baroness Von Sketch, very funny: perfect! But her excuse for delaying us seemed like a joke. She said she was gonna be busy doing a TV series about choreographing an Olympic level pairs skating routine to Whitney Houston’s hit “I Have Nothing”. Ya, sure. Carolyn’s a comedian, who didn’t know how to skate, let alone how to choreograph a skating routine.

Only now, she’s done it. And "I Have Nothing" is so good, Mo cried. And then laughed. We talk about the crazy pitch process, personal obsessions, and how we all now love the Olympic medalist David Pelletier. The series is funny and real. Mostly, we talked about the importance of trying even if it means humiliation and exhaustion. The series runs now on Crave.

You can watch the recording of this episode here

You can view a transcript of the episode here.

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

Denise Donlon: Firebrand Nov 14, 2023

Show notes

Ok, she’s done everything. Much Music rock ‘n roll host/producer, president at SONY Music Canada, honcho at CBC Radio, and all-around do-gooder. Seriously. Through it all, Denise Donlon has tried to use her powers for good. She has fought for women, gay people, for racial diversity, and usually had a lot of fun while she was at it. She spills about CITY-TV, the CBC, and having her heart broken by Leonard Cohen. Not in that way.

Denise paved the way for women in corporate leadership at Sony Music, at the CBC, at Much, and is a member of the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame. She’s been awarded the Order of Canada, a few Geminis, and she has written a memoir: “Fearless as Possible (Under the Circumstances)”. She and her husband, the singer Murray McLaughlin, have been called “Canadian Royalty”. Whatever that is, she deserves it!

You Can watch the episode on YouTube.

A transcription of the show is available here.

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

Ann Hood: Fly Girl Nov 07, 2023

Show notes

Hard to believe, but there was a time when flying was … glamourous. Not just for passengers, but for the crew, especially the stewardesses, as they were called. They were the goddesses of the air, beautifully groomed, alluring, international jet setters. Of course they also dealt with unwanted advances, brutal hours in high heels, and a constant attention to weight and appearance. It was a simpler time, but a fascinating one, according to Ann Hood, author of Fly Girl: A Memoir. Stewardesses, as alluring as they seemed, were so much more than busty sexpots, which, by the way, is Mo’s stripper name.

In addition to being a former flight attendant with TWA, Ann Hood is the editor of Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting and the bestselling author of The Book That Matters Most, The Knitting Circle, The Red Thread, Comfort, and An Italian Wife, among other works. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, a Best American Spiritual Writing Award, a Best American Food Writing Award, a Best American Travel Writing Award, and the Paul Bowles Prize for Short Fiction. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

You Can watch the episode on YouTube.

A transcription of the show is available here.

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

Naomi Snieckus: The Rules Of Improv (And Life) Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

Wendy has a problem with rules. But some rules matter. Like the rules of improv. Naomi Snieckus loves those. And so does Maureen. Naomi talks about Improv Rule #1: Yes, And. About the importance of supporting a partner in comedy or drama or a podcast. And yes, in life.Naomi started doing improv at Second City in Toronto, and is now an actor, producer, writer and director.

She was on “Mr. D", “Degrassi”, “Pretty Hard Cases”, and voices a ton of cartoons.

During “Me Too” she launched The Firecracker Department which supports creative women and non-binary people. She’s also hosting a new podcast with Amanda Brugel called the Blaze Sessions. They are very supportive partners!

A Video version of this episode appears here.

A transcript of the episode is here.

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

Jeannette Walls: Family and Fiction Oct 24, 2023

Show notes

Family secrets are now the stuff of tell-all memoirs, thanks largely to Jeannette Walls and her book The Glass Castle. Jeannette turned the book world - and the world in general - on its ear with her account of growing up rootless, homeless and in dire poverty. Jeannette has now moved on to fiction. Hang the Moon is her latest, the story of an intrepid young woman who becomes a bootlegger during Prohibition. We talk about memoirs and memories, truth and fiction, and what it’s like to have Woody Harrelson play your father.

Jeannette Walls is an American author and journalist, widely known as a former gossip columnist for MSNBC until she wrote The Glass Castle, a memoir of her nomadic childhood and family life, that catapulted her onto the NYT bestseller list, where the book has remained for the past 8 years. Her third novel, Hang the Moon, was published in March 2023. Jeannette lives with her husband on a 200 acre ranch in Virginia.

A version of this episode appears in video form on YouTube but sadly we lost connection to Jeannette's video about halfway through.

A transcript of the episode is here.

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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