The Women Of Ill Repute

Latest Episodes:

Jen Sookfong Lee: Superfan May 16, 2023

Show notes

Jen Sookfong Lee makes no apologies: she’s a superfan. That’s the name of her latest book, a deeply personal compilation of essays on how her life has been touched and affected by the likes of Anne of Green Gables, Princess Diana, Amy Tan, sensitive white boys like John Cusack, the Biebers, the Kardashians and, inevitably, Gwyneth. The truth is these icons resonate with all of us, even Wendy, who admits to knowing nothing about pop culture. Jen joins us to talk about all that, being Asian Canadian, a single mother, a more than decent writer, and an admitted weirdo.

Jen Sookfong Lee was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side. Her books include the novels The End of East, The Better Mother and The Conjoined. Jenalso works as an editor at ECW Press, and co-hosts the podcast Can’t Lit. Her memoir Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart is published by McLelland & Stewart

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If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com

A Transcription of the episode can be found here.

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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Beverley McLachlin: Full Disclosure May 09, 2023

Show notes

Beverley is not retiring. Beverley McLachlin was told in grade 8 that she wasn’t very alert. That she probably wouldn’t amount to much. Ha! She went on to become the chief justice of our Supreme Court, the first woman in that role. All justices are told to step down at 75, so she has now taken up writing thriller novels. Oh, and a bit of lawyering. You should hear what she says about the Notorious RBG , and what might have happened to the “Bev” bra.

Beverley McLachlin was born and raised in Pincher Creek, Alberta. She was chief justice of the Supreme Court, and has now written a thriller: “Full Disclosure”, and a memoir: “Truth be Told, My Journey Through Life and the Law”.

You can watch this episode on YouTube 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

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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Suzette Mayr: Giller Girl May 02, 2023

Show notes

Suzette Mayr thinks happy endings are important, (not that kind of happy ending). She just won the Giller Prize for The Sleeping Car Porter and tells us why it was so important and so difficult to tell the story of being a Black gay man in Canada 100 years ago. Suzette tells us about what it was like for her the first time in a lesbian bar, what happened to Rockhead’s Jazz Bar in Montreal, and why “Rate my Prof” is worse than Yelp.Suzette Mayr is the author of 6 novels and 2 books of poetry. Her latest novel The Sleeping Car Porter won this year’s Giller prize. She is an English professor at the University of Calgary. Her writing often focuses on issues of race, identity and sex!

You can watch this episode on YouTube 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

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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Jonathan Torrens: What Is Normal? Apr 25, 2023

Show notes

What is normal anyway? We may have spent our childhoods trying to fit in, but now being a “normie” is an insult. When Jonathan Torrens moved to L.A., surrounded by buff guys in v-necks, he realized his future was not as a Brad Pitt stud. He says he’s quirky, we think he’s funny. He’s been a white rapper on ‘Trailer Park Boys’, a Quebecker who “Lévesque’s” his hair on ‘Shoresy’, all deeply offensive. Or is it? He says you gotta love to mock. He also got radio Mo to talk about “Dudes, dicks and does”.

Jonathan Torrens is Canadian actor and media personality. You know him from Street Cents, his talk show Jonovision, and for his role as J-Roc in Trailer Park Boys. He also delivers strong beard work as Noah Dyck in the series Letterkenny. Born in PEI, he insists on living in Nova Scotia with his family, where normalcy is tolerated if not practiced.

We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter.

You can also watch this episode on our YouTube channel.

If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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

Lauren Hough: The Hardest Thing Apr 18, 2023

Show notes

Lauren Hough is living a remarkable life. Author of a collection of essays called “Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing”, Lauren causes us to consider what IS the hardest thing? Growing up in a doomsday sex cult? Joining the Air Force and almost getting court-martialed? Going to jail? Traveling around the country in a van with her dog? Being a 6 foot lesbian? We caught up with Lauren, all jet-lagged from a trip to Paris, to talk about writing, religion and cheese. Caution: some spectacularly colourful language.

Lauren Hough defies categorization so we’re not going to even try. Born in Berlin, raised in 7 countries as part of a cult known as the Children of God that robbed her of an education and any sense of self or family, Lauren eventually found her voice. Her memoir has won numerous literary prizes. She’s also the author of Bad Reads, an Substack journal both random and profound, and utterly addictive.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

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

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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Cynthia Loyst & Josie Dye : Unmentionables Apr 11, 2023

Show notes

Women talk, they say, but do we really? So much of the female - or even the human - experience is caught up in shame: shame about our bodies, our feelings, our, well, our “unmentionables”. Enter Cynthia Loyst and Josie Dye, two (almost) shameless women who dare to tackle the messy, silly and sexy topics you won’t find anywhere else. Cynthia and Josie’s “Unmentionables” podcast has launched to great acclaim, and we decided to find out if there was anything they WOULDN’T talk about. We discuss weight loss, hemorrhoids, hookups and broken penises. Without shame, mostly.

Cynthia Loyst is a bestselling author, producer, and television host. You’ll find her on CTV’s daytime talk show The Social. Josie Dye is the host and creator of The Josie Dye Show on Indie 88, one of the very few women to host her own radio morning show. Her robust knowledge of music has put her in front of the the many of the world’s best musicians.

Both Cynthia and Josie are working mothers. Josie’s eldest son was diagnosed with the rare Sotos Syndrome, and she lends her voice and profile to raising awareness for the little known disease.

You can watch the recording on our YouTube Channel.

A transcript 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

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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

Bif Naked: Super Beautiful Monster Apr 04, 2023

Show notes

Bif Naked is so many things: rock star, activist, tattooed lady … survivor. How Beth Torbert, the daughter of missionary parents adopted in India, came to be Bif Naked, the artist we know today, is a story of courage and resilience. Born in secrecy, hidden away in a mental hospital, a victim of abuse, addiction and then breast cancer, Bif found her way, and she tells us her story, or stories, because there are many. We talk about mothers, drugs, kindness, creativity, and, of course, tattoos.

Bif Naked is immediately recognizable as one of Canada’s most remarkable artists. Throughout her long and varied career, leading a punk rock band in Vancouver, releasing ten albums, multiple film and TV roles, and a cancer diagnosis at the age of 37, Bif has seen and done it all. It has left her super and beautiful, inside and out.

The show is on YouTube! You can watch it 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

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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

Roz Weston: A Little Less Broken Mar 28, 2023

Show notes

He says he’s written more books than he’s read, but Roz Weston wrote a bestseller. A Little Bit Broken is a deeply personal memoir about growing up in a small town with a loving family, yet still being compelled to make bad decisions. Addiction, self-harm, promiscuity - all followed Roz from Acton to New York to Toronto, where he eventually found a way to make it better. We talk about the best and worst celebrities to interview, why he’ll never write another book, and how he kept the ending a surprise for the person that mattered most. There’s also a great recipe for turkey.

Roz Weston is the co-host of The Roz and Mocha Show on Toronto’s Kiss 92.5. He got his break working as an intern with Howard Stern, then eventually moved on to become an entertainment reporter at ET Canada, where he spent 17 years. After publishing his memoirs, Roz became engaged to photographer Katherine Holland, with whom he shares a daughter, Roxy.

Please subscribe to the YouTube channel when you get there.

As mentioned at the end of the show, there were a few technical glitches that prevented us from having a full YouTube version of the show. But here is the show on YouTube with a static image for those who listen there.

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

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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

Jessica Holmes: Everything Is Funny Eventually Mar 21, 2023

Show notes

Laugh? I thought I’d cry. Why do comedy and depression go hand in hand? They often do, and Jessica Holmes says that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We talk about supportive husbands, surly teenagers, hosting corporate events from home, punching up (and down), Celine Dion, joining and leaving the Mormon Church, and just what the hell is normal anyway?

Jessica Holmes is a Canadian actress, comedian and speaker. Best know for her time on the Royal Canadian Air Farce, Jessica has also performed Just For Laughs and The Second City. Her impersonations are legendary, and include Celine, Liza, Britney, and, for some reason, Belinda Stronach. Like millions of Canadian, Jessica has struggled both with post-partum depression and, as she puts it, “regular, run-of-the-mill, garden-variety depression”. Her inspiring book Depression The Comedy: A Tale of Perseverance delves into her personal journey with validation and warmth. She continues to advocate for mental health and helping people take simple, sustainable steps towards fulfillment and well-being, one laugh at a time.

By the way, we had a few requests for us to do video so here you go! You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Please subscribe to the YouTube channel when you get there.

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

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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

Cindy Blackstock: The Changemaker Mar 14, 2023

Show notes

Cindy Blackstock wants to fix things. She has fought for Indigenous kids to be treated with the same respect as everyone else. Which means better care and much more funding. And then we talk about why “Pretend Indians” are so infuriating. Very serious stuff. But change is happening. She radiates with hope, and is proud to be seen as a Woman of Ill Repute! We talk about destroyed childhoods and residential schools. Also, why her Spirit Bear is white, and why Cindy is a much better name than Wendy.Cindy Blackstock was born in 1964 in British Columbia to a Gitxsan father and a non-indigenous mother. She just won McGill’s highest award, the latest of so many, for her work fighting racism and establishing the Jordan Principle. She has a gazillion degrees, is a professor at McGill, and runs the First Nations Caring Society, which fights for equal funding and care for Indigenous kids.

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

We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. And because you asked for it - Future episodes will be in video form. https://www.youtube.com/@WomenofIllRepute

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

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