Well hello. It’s been a while. We are back, but only to say goodbye, then take you with us. After almost three years of being independent podcasters with the Sound Off Network, we are moving over to Substack. Substack is primarily a writers’ platform, but you can host podcasts there too, so we are taking the existing episodes of Women of Ill Repute (all 95 of them!) and putting them up there. You can still listen to us on Apple and Spotify and all the places you already get your pods, but on Substack they will be completely ad free. You’ll also have access to our newsletter, and whatever other content we dream up, like recipes, dark family secrets, and dark family secret recipes. Furthermore, it won’t cost you anything, unless you want to support us (for as little as $6 a month). We get into the why’s and wherefore’s in this episode, and if we sound a little wistful, well, we are. Have a listen, then come find us at https://womenofillrepute.substack.com/ We’ll see you over there! Xxxx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our Summer Throwback series continues. Is an ambivert a pervert? No, it’s most of us! Maybe we are all just less funny versions of Colin Mochrie, who reveals he is, of course, an ambivert, someone who feels comfortable in social situations but also really enjoys time alone. You may know Colin as an extrovert, but he’s often really introverted. He says he’s afraid his neighbours might think he’s a dick, when he’s really just shy. Colin is a famous improv guy, he was on the U.K. and U.S. versions of “Whose Line is it Anyway” for decades. He is now doing big shows in L.A. with a hypnotist. He tells us why “Hyprov” is a perfect mix for improv. He also performs “Scared Scriptless” with comedian Brad Sherwood. His wife, Deb McGrath, who he met at Toronto’s Second City, is also an improv pro. She is an extrovert! He says they just hide away in different corners of the house when the laughs run out. You can watch this episode on YouTube. We have a new sponsor! Embark is owned by a not-for-profit foundation, and they only do education planning and savings. They are passionate about helping students reach their full potential. The Embark Student Plan is a registered education savings plan (RESP) that supports your child’s journey to and through post-secondary education. Start an account using the promo code REPUTE100 and we’ll contribute $100. A transcription of this 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our Summer Throwback series continues. Even when playing old ladies, she’s beautiful. Sheila McCarthy is one of those people you feel like you’ve known forever. And maybe we have. She’s been in everything, and now stars in Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking”, the Oscar-winning movie based on a true story by Miriam Toews about Mennonite women and girls drugged and then raped by men they know in their Bolivian colony. It’s all about violence and women talking!!!! It’s important, and it works. Sheila talks about learning to say sorry to someone who’s been abused, getting the role, and having her feet washed by the Queen! (Aka Claire Foy, who yes, is also in the movie)Sheila’s an actor, dancer, and singer. She’s been at it since she was 5. She first broke through in “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing”, then in “Emily of New Moon”, “Little Mosque on the Prairie”, and in many Anne of Green Gables shows. She has won gobs of Genies, Geminis, ACTRA’s. WM You can watch this episode on our YouTube channel. A transcription of this episode is available here. We have a new sponsor! Embark is owned by a not-for-profit foundation, and they only do education planning and savings. They are passionate about helping students reach their full potential. The Embark Student Plan is a registered education savings plan (RESP) that supports your child’s journey to and through post-secondary education. Start an account using the promo code REPUTE100 and we’ll contribute $100. 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 [email protected] 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

This week we go back to Episode 20 and the First Man. Rick Mercer was the first male to appear on our show. We decided to open up the floodgates and talk to anyone fearless and/or funny enough to want to talk to US, and no one fits that bill better than Rick. He’s been called a national treasure, Canada’s beloved comic genius, the scourge of Parliament Hill, and … the nicest man you’d ever want to meet. We love Rick for a million reasons, but especially because he works at the intersection of comedy and journalism. Whether he’s talking to Americans about Prime Minister Jean Poutine, or trying to convince Stockwell Day to change his name to Doris, Rick makes us think and laugh, then think again. We talk about Newfoundland, Meech Lake, anger, friendship, being funny, paying it forward, and Rick’s love of his partner of 30 years. Rick Mercer has more awards (25 Geminis), honorary degrees (9), and causes (UNICEF, Casey House, climate change, anti-bullying, gay youth) than anyone ever. He’s an officer of the Order of Canada, an honorary RCAF colonel, and the recipient of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. Not bad for a kid from St. John’s who never finished Grade 12. He’s written several books, including his latest, “Talking to Canadians: a Memoir”, and is thinking of starting a podcast. 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 [email protected] 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

It's August and we are into some Summer Throwbacks! We go back to earlier this year and Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, a diva in the true sense of the word: a famous female opera star, with all the fierce discipline and flair for drama that that entails. But Measha is also a mother, a wife, a memoirist, a 7th generation Canadian descended from Black loyalists, on her way to finishing a Masters degree in practical theology. She does everything wholeheartedly, which is all the more inspiring when you know her experience with cardiovascular disease, undergoing open-heart surgery not once but twice. Who better to be our guest as we release this in February, as February is not only Black History Month, but Heart Month as well? Measha was born in New Brunswick, and now makes her home in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. Currently Artist in Residence with Opera Atelier, Measha has just released an album called Zombie Blizzard, featuring concert arias by Aaron Davis and Margaret Atwood. We talk about love, faith, honesty, race, health, and showing your scars .Measha Brueggergosman-Lee: both her heart and her names go on and on. You Can watch the recording of the show on YouTube. You can find a transcription of the show 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes singers sing about singing, writers write about writing, and podcasters podcast about … yes, podcasting. This episode is actually a live off the floor recording of an interview we did with Sarah Burke, the founder of the Women in Media podcast and network. It takes place in Toronto at the Soundwave Summit, a conference and showcase for independent podcasters. Sarah tells us about why and how she started her pod, and then her network, and we all have a good chat about the ups and downs of this strange, still nascent little industry. Podcasting is an opportunity for everyone to have a voice. The question is … should they? And if so, how to do it successfully? To be honest, we are still figuring that out ourselves. A video and transcription of the show are available 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So Wendy never reads sports, but always reads Cathal Kelly, the sports writer at the Globe and Mail. He’s funny and fearless and clever, Cathal just happens to have chosen sports as the best vehicle. We pretended we were going to talk about the upcoming Paris Olympics, and we did! (Cathal loves the Olympics, aka 23-year-olds doing crazy, exceptional things, sometimes involving the River Seine) We also talk about his book, a memoir Cathal wrote a couple of years ago, called “Boy Wonders”. The book says intimacy makes him nervous, but it’s so revealing. He tells of loving Morrissey of The Smiths and George Orwell, who both argue your dreams usually don’t come true. Just try to be happy, says Cathal, but then why has he not lowered his expectations for his writing? We talk about that, how his mother is still terrifying, and how the perfect way to style your hair is with French Formula hairspray. A video and transcription of the show are available 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We both feel like we know her, Martha Chaves is after all the funniest Nicaraguan Canadian LGBTQ+ Stand Up Comedian in the World! We know her best from radio shows like “The Debaters”, and “Because News”. She also teaches comedy at Humber and Metropolitan Toronto University, showing the ropes to people just starting out. Martha tells us she’s heard and seen lots of sexism, racism and homophobia over the years in Stand Up, but she just pushes ahead. On her own at 17, (leaving Nicaragua is quite the story!) she figured out how to be positive and stay that way. One of her jokes is about Preparation H, and let’s just say it stirred a TV confession…. 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 [email protected] A Transcription of the show is available on the episode page. You can also watch the show here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We love books and authors, we consider a lot of them for our podcast, but Vancouver Island’s Chelsea Wakelyn sent us an intriguing email. So we read her first book and got truly blown away. “What Remains of Elsie Jane” is a quasi-fictional story about losing her beloved partner, father to her kids, to drugs and addiction just as the opioid crisis began sweeping B.C. All while Chelsea was in her 30’s. It sounds like a gut-wrencher. And yes, it’s tragic and raw, but it’s also side-splittingly funny.We talked about being a weirdo, lust, Joan Didion and magical thinking, sneaking cigarettes, and how abstinence is not necessarily a virtue. Chelsea’s long-time day job has been as a toxic drug counsellor. And then, right after we recorded, something happened. Please enjoy the chat, and we’ll update at the end. 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 [email protected] A Transcription of the show is available on the episode page. You can also watch the show here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are many pathways to fame and fortune, but being exceptionally good at doing laundry is an unusual one. Enter Melissa Dilkes Pateras, whose knowledge of housecleaning tips and tricks has turned her into an internet sensation. Well, that, and her sly sense of humour and unblinking acknowledgement of her sexuality. A resident of Uxbridge, Ontario, and mother of three, Melissa started making videos during the Covid-19 lockdown to entertain herself, and went viral on Facebook, then TikTok, and ultimately an appearance on the CBS Morning Show. She also found love when she connected with her now wife Tracy, who moved from Australia to Canada to be together. We talk love, keeping a clean house, trad wives, and the truth about laundry strips (it’s not good). 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 [email protected] A Transcription of the show is available on the episode page. You can also watch the show here. Melissa is the author of “A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home: Housekeeping Hacks You Can’t Live Without”. Follow her on Facebook and TikTok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What IS the deal with boobs? Our preoccupation with women’s breasts isn’t just sexual, it’s social, historical, political and economic. No one knew that better than Carol Doda, a dancer and cocktail waitress, who, 60 years ago, dared to bare her nipples atop a baby grand piano as it descended from the ceiling of the Condor, a San Francisco nightclub. Somehow, it changed everything. Far from being exploited sex workers, Carol and her colleagues saw themselves as the harbingers of a revolution. Maybe so, but they paid dearly for it, submitting themselves not only to the male gaze, but the liquid silicone injections that assured it. Carol Doda Topless at the Condor is a documentary set against the backdrop of the 1964 Republican National Convention, where the clash of values and emergence of a new sexual freedom were felt around the world. Filmmakers Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Park join us to talk about the excitement and yes, the innocence of a time where a woman could have such an impact just by taking off her top. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Tassie Cameron first saw the opening credits for Law and Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, complete with the iconic DUN DUN sound effect, she felt a shiver up her spine. It was Cameron who was entrusted with the legendary series’ first foray beyond American borders, serving as show runner and head writer for the Canadian franchise. Tassie says Toronto is a natural fit, with its diverse population, distinct neighbourhoods and yes, rampant crime scene. There are differences, however, in our criminal justice system, and those can pose a challenge, along with the demanding responsibility to get the show right. Tassie Cameron has a shiny resume, having written and produced a slew of award winning TV series such as Pretty Hard Cases, Flashpoint, Rookie Blue and Degrassi: The Next Generation. The daughter of crime reporter Stevie Cameron, Tassie grew up with the need to know whydunit as much as who. We talk about crime and corruption, using a Canadian cast and crew, and how Toronto is finally ready for its close-up. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It felt like Old Home Week. A few years ago Tracy Dawson was on the CTV comedy show The Dish Show, co-hosted by you know who. Yes, of course, it was Mo. And Tracy is still tempting trouble, mouthing off and cracking jokes, only now she’s in L.A. She’s a comedy writer who’s just written her first book, “ Let Me Be Frank: A Book About Women Who Dressed Like Men To Do Sh**t They Weren’t Supposed To Do”. Tracy got inspired after being told the TV shows she wanted to write for had “no female needs”! There may have been F-words expressed, but she’s a comedian, so the book is very funny. She is now working on a screen adaptation. We talk about how women can crack jokes, even if they wear pants with zippers in the front instead of in the back. Turns out front zippers were once for men only! Tracy is a writer, comedian and actress, who won a Gemini for her role in "Call Me Fitz" and has sold several TV projects in Canada and the U.S. She started at Second City in Toronto. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why does the serious man movie always get the nod? On the eve of the Oscars, Johanna Schneller says some things don’t change. Hence Oppenheimer getting the glory and Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie getting snubbed. Wendy and Mo have different thoughts on the movie, but really? Barbie was huge! We talk to Johanna about Girl Power, why we love celebrities, and why Mean Girls may go on forever. But don’t worry, there are lots of reveals about getting famous people to open up. Johanna is one of the top entertainment journalists in the world. We read her in the Globe & Mail, but also Vanity Fair, GQ, IN Style. She’s profiled Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts. She’s a screenwriter, with 4 major adapted screenplays, hosted The Filmmakers for CBC and TVO’s Saturday Night at the Movies! She’s co-written books about Toronto mayor Rob Ford, and transgender cyclist Kristen Worley. And, most recently The Last Doctor: Lessons in Living from the Front Lines of Medical Assistance in Dying. Johanna is married to writer Ian Brown, they have two children, including their son Walker, who was born with a rare and serious genetic disorder. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

38 albums in, most of them gold or platinum, Bruce Cockburn is still Kicking at the Darkness. He’s a legendary singer-songwriter-activist who’s won 13 Juno awards, and is now heading out on tour with his latest, “O Sun, O Moon”, where he sings “In my soul, I’m on a roll”. Now 78, Bruce is still trying to make the world a better place. We talk about the one time “the suits” got a say (Franklin the Turtle lyrics ), about others having hits with his songs (Lovers in a Dangerous Time), and the story behind his signature round glasses! Bruce tells us he wondered if he was lacking the proper paternity gene, as he didn’t get to be around much for his first daughter. Now he has a second, and he’s become a US citizen to be with her and her mom in San Francisco. We were worried, him being a Canadian icon and all, but he’s kept his Canadian citizenship. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Measha Brueggergosman-Lee is a diva in the true sense of the word: a famous female opera star, with all the fierce discipline and flair for drama that that entails. But Measha is also a mother, a wife, a memoirist, a 7th generation Canadian descended from Black loyalists, on her way to finishing a Masters degree in practical theology. She does everything wholeheartedly, which is all the more inspiring when you know her experience with cardiovascular disease, undergoing open-heart surgery not once but twice. Who better to be our guest this week, as February is not only Black History Month, but Heart Month as well? Measha was born in New Brunswick, and now makes her home in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. Currently Artist in Residence with Opera Atelier, Measha has just released an album called Zombie Blizzard, featuring concert arias by Aaron Davis and Margaret Atwood. We talk about love, faith, honesty, race, health, and showing your scars .Measha Brueggergosman-Lee: both her heart and her names go on and on. You Can watch the recording of the show on YouTube. You can find a transcription of the show 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is being a woman just like in the ads? Blood is blue, and we all need supplements that make us smell like a pina colada? Jennifer Gunter is a Canadian gynecologist who also writes for the New York Times, hosts a podcast, and has written several bestselling books: The Vagina bible, The Menopause Manifesto, and now: BLOOD, The Science, Medicine and Mythology of Menstruation. She lives and practices in California, but her new book is the #1 bestseller in Canada. There’s lots of science, as she says, “Come for the sex, stay for the science”, but Gunter is also a myth-buster. She takes on GOOP, patriarchal thinking, and naturopaths. Wait til you hear what she says about the hymen! We talk about her new book, but also how we need more knowledge and appreciation, not just more supplements! 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alan Doyle says the best part of leaving, is coming home. And home is Newfoundland. His elders voted to keep Newfoundland a country, but they lost the 1949 referendum and joined Canada. Alan is the first generation Canadian in his family. We talk about his love of touring, of music, of acting beside Russell Crowe, and partying in pubs. Alan plans to keep performing forever. Why, he asks, would one ever retire? We tried to get him to confess to being secretly unhappy. It didn’t work. His new album is a bit more country, much more intimate, and he dares us to find his actual confessions in the songs. Still, it’s the good times, the old songs and sounds, that keep him going. After years of performing with Great Big Sea, he’s got a new band and a new album, called of course, “Welcome Home”. You can watch the episode on YouTube A Transcription is available on the episode page Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Molly McGlynn has a lot to distinguish her: an accomplished writer and director, her first feature film Mary Goes Round won multiple awards at all the cool festivals, and she’s written for TV shows like Workin’ Moms, The Wonder Years and Grace and Frankie. Molly’s latest feature film, however, is a semi-autobiographical account of a teenager who discovers she was born wth a rare disorder called MRKH syndrome, which impacts the development of the uterus, cervix and vagina, and is sometimes classified as intersex.Hence, Fitting In, starring dance phenom Maddie Ziegler and Schitt’s Creek actor Emily Hampshire, an extremely personal story about coping with the surprises our bodies can throw at us. We talk about Molly’s own experience, the dark humour that pervades it, and what’s involved in building your own vagina. See the Trailer here! Fitting In is set for theatrical release in February 2024. A video version of this episode here. A Transcription can be found on the episode page 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When she was 26, Emily O’Brien, a promising young woman (as they say) from Hamilton, Ontario made a really bad judgment call, and was sentenced to 4 years in prison for drug smuggling. That could have been the end of her story, as it is for so many, but Emily, given lemons, decided to turn them into lemon (and pepper and dill) flavoured popcorn. While still incarcerated, Emily started Comeback Snacks, a gourmet popcorn business that allowed her to not only reinvent her own life, but those of some of her fellow inmates.Not only does Comeback Snacks offer truly delicious popcorn, but, through its partnerships with organizations like the John Howard and Elizabeth Fry Societies, it provides opportunities to people with criminal backgrounds to reintegrate and start anew. We talk with Emily about the arrest that changed her life, her time in prison, and her newfound mission. Comeback Snacks - popcorn so good it’s criminal - is carried in over 200 stores, and can be ordered at https://comebacksnacks.com/shop. A video version of this episode here. A Transcription can be found on the episode page 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 sexpot. Yes, she has moved back to Vancouver Island, and 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Vivek Shraya wants to talk about failure. She has a new TV series on CBC called “How to Fail as a Popstar”. Vivek says that failure is what keeps her up at night. Why didn’t she become the next Madonna? Did people think she was too brown? Too queer? Or maybe she was too held down by people’s expectations? Vivek embraces the failure, and argues we need to stop focusing on resilience and allow for disappointment. Meanwhile, Vivek is an associate professor, a filmmaker, the author of several books, a musician, and a huge success. She’s also written, produced and starred in this new series. Vivek talks to us about what it’s like to cast herself, starting out as a nerdy little brown boy singing at the West Edmonton Mall, to the transgendered woman she is now with a big story to tell. You can watch the video of the recording here 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jon Dore is a national treasure, or will be when he returns to Canada from Alaska, where he’s been living these past few years. He’s not everyone’s cup of maple syrup, however. His humour lurks on the dark side: domestic arguments, pregnancy, cancer, his own surprise diagnosis of epilepsy. There are few borders Jon won’t cross, literally and figuratively. We talk about lifestyle changes, free speech, love of family and country, and being best friends with an 8 year old.Jon Dore was named Best Newcomer by the Canadian Comedy Awards back in 2013. Ten years later, he won the Juno for his album A Person who is Gingerbread. In between, Jon has created, hosted and appeared in lots of big shows, like Canadian Idol, How I Met Your Mother, Inside Amy Schumer, Humour Resources and The Lake. He currently lives in Juneau, Alaska with his partner Christina and their two children, but hopes to move back to his native Ottawa. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Good stories don’t have to be based in truth, but they are all the more compelling when they are. Have you seen Little Bird? You must. The series, available on Crave, tells the story of Esther Rosenblum, born Bezhig Little Bird, a First Nations woman who was adopted into a Jewish family during the Sixties Scoop, when children were forcibly taken from their families. Jennifer herself is half Jewish, half Ojibwa. She’s a brilliant and highly acclaimed actress, writer and producer, but sees herself as a clown, and would have joined Cirque du Soleil if she hadn’t broken her leg in a ski accident. We talk about family, work, kids and culture and the importance of being able to tell your own story. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She has a lot of letters: SVP at MLSE. Melissa Bubb-Clarke has a big job overseeing music and other live events at huge arenas. But what’s really cool is that she gets to see behind the stage and meet the stars! We talk to Melissa about her favourite concerts (like the Tragically Hip), brown M&Ms, and what it’s really like for the Madonnas of the world behind the scenes. We resisted the temptation to grovel for free tickets.As Vice President at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, she oversees the Entertainment portfolio including Live Nation Canada. Melissa also sits on the board of the Academy of Canadian Recording Arts and Sciences. WM. You can watch this episode on YouTube. A transcription of this episode is available here. We have a new sponsor! Embark is owned by a not-for-profit foundation, and they only do education planning and savings. They are passionate about helping students reach their full potential. The Embark Student Plan is a registered education savings plan (RESP) that supports your child’s journey to and through post-secondary education. Start an account using the promo code REPUTE100 and we’ll contribute $100. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even when playing old ladies, she’s beautiful. Sheila McCarthy is one of those people you feel like you’ve known forever. And maybe we have. She’s been in everything, and now stars in Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking”, the Oscar-winning movie based on a true story by Miriam Toews about Mennonite women and girls drugged and then raped by men they know in their Bolivian colony. It’s all about violence and women talking!!!! It’s important, and it works. Sheila talks about learning to say sorry to someone who’s been abused, getting the role, and having her feet washed by the Queen! (Aka Claire Foy, who yes, is also in the movie)Sheila’s an actor, dancer, and singer. She’s been at it since she was 5. She first broke through in “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing”, then in “Emily of New Moon”, “Little Mosque on the Prairie”, and in many Anne of Green Gables shows. She has won gobs of Genies, Geminis, ACTRA’s. WM You can watch this episode on our YouTube channel. A transcription of this episode is available here. We have a new sponsor! Embark is owned by a not-for-profit foundation, and they only do education planning and savings. They are passionate about helping students reach their full potential. The Embark Student Plan is a registered education savings plan (RESP) that supports your child’s journey to and through post-secondary education. Start an account using the promo code REPUTE100 and we’ll contribute $100. 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 [email protected] 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

Colin Mochrie: The AmbivertIs an ambivert a pervert? No, it’s most of us! Maybe we are all just less funny versions of Colin Mochrie, who reveals he is, of course, an ambivert, someone who feels comfortable in social situations but also really enjoys time alone. You may know Colin as an extrovert, but he’s often really introverted. He says he’s afraid his neighbours might think he’s a dick, when he’s really just shy.Colin is a famous improv guy, he was on the U.K. and U.S. versions of “Whose Line is it Anyway” for decades. He is now doing big shows in L.A. with a hypnotist. He tells us why “Hyprov” is a perfect mix for improv. He also performs “Scared Scriptless” with comedian Brad Sherwood. His wife, Deb McGrath, who he met at Toronto’s Second City, is also an improv pro. She is an extrovert! He says they just hide away in different corners of the house when the laughs run out. You can watch this episode on YouTube. We have a new sponsor! Embark is owned by a not-for-profit foundation, and they only do education planning and savings. They are passionate about helping students reach their full potential. The Embark Student Plan is a registered education savings plan (RESP) that supports your child’s journey to and through post-secondary education. Start an account using the promo code REPUTE100 and we’ll contribute $100. A transcription of this 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Samantha Irby is not as hostile as she might like us to think, quietly or otherwise. What she is is brutally and hilariously honest. Fierce and foul-mouthed, Sam joins us to talk about why it’s ok not to like your body … How she’s not responsible for killing Big on And Just Like That, but did help expedite his demise (send your outraged emails to us, not her). Also: how to be a decent stepparent, what she keeps in her purse, and her crazy pandemic Chihuahua. Oh, and the world’s best moisturizer. The New York Times calls Samantha Irby “a side-splitting polemicist for the most awful situations”. A blogger, writer and television writer, Sam has published five books, including her latest, Quietly Hostile, which she describes as a survival guide (of sorts). Her essay collection Wow, No Thank You won the Lambda Literary Award in 2021. Subscribe to Samantha Irby on Substack where she publishes Bitches Gotta Eat. We have a new sponsor! Embark is owned by a not-for-profit foundation, and they only do education planning and savings. They are passionate about helping students reach their full potential. The Embark Student Plan is a registered education savings plan (RESP) that supports your child’s journey to and through post-secondary education. Start an account using the promo code REPUTE100 and we’ll contribute $100. You can watch this episode on our YouTube channel. A transcription of this 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 [email protected] 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

This is Mary Berg’s moment. If you haven’t noticed, Mary is everywhere these days. She’s already been on our radar as the winner of MasterChef Canada, the host of two cooking shows, the author of three cookbooks and now … the host of The Good Stuff with Mary Berg, a new national daytime talk and lifestyle series replacing the irreplaceable Marilyn Denis on CTV’s fall schedule. Despite her pretty damn adorable appearance, Mary is no lightweight: she learned to cook as the result of a family tragedy. She has degrees in history, English and information science. She worked as an insurance broker, then quit to compete in MasterChef - without any formal culinary training. Sure, Mary makes it easy, but we know better. We talk recipes and entertaining tips, but also how exciting - and daunting - it is to be on the precipice of being the next big thing. This episode is in partnership with Kitchen Stuff Plus. It’s Back to School time again, and you can find everything you need for yourself and your family at KSP’s back to school event. Lunchbags, water bottles, all important FOOD STORAGE (Mo’s obsession). Back to School made easy, with 24 stores across the GTA. Or shop online at https://www.kitchenstuffplus.com Kitchen Stuff Plus | Houseware & Home Decor Retailer Kitchen Stuff Plus includes Housewares, Kitchen Gadgets, Bakeware, Cookware, Storage, Knife Block Sets and more available for sale at the best discount price. (4 kB) A transcription of the episode is available here. You can also watch the episode here through our YouTube Channel. 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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it mean to age gracefully? Does it involve defiance or acceptance? For Suzanne Boyd, editor-in-chief of Zoomer magazine, it means making the most and best of the time we have, each according to his or her own preference. There’s a world of opportunity for people over the age of, say, 45? But it’s also OK to wear pyjamas and watch Jeopardy all day, if that fulfills you. Of course it helps if you have Suzanne’s drive, energy and downright gorgeousness. Come meet the woman who says comfort is overrated, and that she’d never be caught dead in a loafer, unless it’s a silver platform. Moses Znaimer says Suzanne Boyd is the only Canadian editor who is her own brand. Prior to her current role running Zoomer media, Suzanne was editor-in-chief at Flare magazine, the first person of colour to helm a national Canadian publication. Then she went to New York to launch Suede magazine, where she was named to Advertising Age’s prestigious A List and was also lauded in The New York Times, The New York Daily News, Italian Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily. She is perennially named to multiple Best Dressed lists. A Transcription of this 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 [email protected] 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 You can also watch the show on YouTube Here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever been scammed? Ripped off? Betrayed? Lied to? Ever fallen for a sociopath? Are YOU a sociopath? How would you know if you were? These are the questions we discuss with Zoe Whittall, author of the bestselling novel “The Fake”. Zoe is a Canadian poet, teacher TV writer and novelist. She has won all sorts of awards for her work, including being shortlisted for the Giller Prize, and her 2016 novel, The Best Kind of People, is being developed for film by Sarah Polley. “The Fake” is her fifth novel, and tells the story of a charming con artist who changes the lives of two victims (or patsies, as Mo calls them). We also tackle humour and mental health, Judy Blume, and growing up in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. “The Fake” is published by Harper Collins. Zoe is currently working on a book based on the Gilmore Girls, to be edited by Jen Sookfong Lee - another Woman of Ill Repute! 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 [email protected] A Transcription of the show 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Moore is the thinking person’s thinking person. As the affable yet acerbic host of Moore in the Morning on radio station Newstalk 1010, he gets up at an ungodly hour to keep Toronto informed and entertained. John is also a dear and longtime friend to Wendy and Mo, so we put the host in the guest chair to talk about all things to do with friendship: how to make them, how to lose them, what matters in a friend, what doesn’t, friends on social media, and of course friends with benefits. John Sanford Moore (yup, that’s his middle name) was born and raised in Montreal. His career speaks for itself, but he is also an actor, an improv performer, a skilled cook and an avid cyclist and kayaker. He suffers endless abuse about his golf game. John can ride a horse, and puts up with an ornery terrier named Rory. He met his partner in 1995 on a disastrous date, but so far things are working 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 [email protected] 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 Transcription of this episode can be found here.  You can also watch the show on YouTube Here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not a lot of chuckles when you are kidnapped by the Taliban and thrown in a hole. And then you write a book about the girls stolen and raped by Boko Haram. But we laughed anyway. Mellissa Fung talks about her life, her new book, women’s fears, and ultimately finding joy. No one wants to be defined by their worst experience, we talk about learning to be a survivor and not just a victim. Mellissa Fung is a journalist and thinks that matters. While reporting in Afghanistan in 2008, she was kidnapped by the Taliban and kept in a hole in the ground for 5 weeks. She wanted to keep reporting on the world’s problems, but the CBC refused to let her go back. She has written 2 books about what happened to her, 'Under an Afghan Sky’ and now ‘Between Good and Evil, the Stolen Girls of Boko Haram’. She lives in London with CTV journalist Paul Workman. 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 [email protected] 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 Transcription of this episode can be found here. You can also watch the show on YouTube Here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeanne Beker has done it all, most of it on TV. Rock ‘n roll, fashion, and now, breast cancer. Unfortunately, Mo and Wendy know too much about the latter. Jeanne offers lessons on how to be super upbeat. We share tales until we realize we could do a whole show about hair! Mostly we talk about Jeanne’s many closets and her treasured pieces. She also spills about that time in the bathtub with a famous rock star. Jeanne Beker is a journalist, media personality, and fashion entrepreneur. She was a star on The NewMusic, and hosted the internationally syndicated Fashion Television for 27 years. She has won every award imaginable and was recently named Style Editor of the Shopping Channel. 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 [email protected] 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 Transcription of this episode can be found here. You can also watch the show on YouTube Here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The great outdoors is overrated, says Ivy Le, a comedian and podcaster from Austin, Texas. Ivy, a self-admitted indoorswoman, took on camping, and then hunting, as a sort of exercise in reverse colonialism. Ivy is Asian, you see, as well as a bisexual Buddhist mom with allergies, and she couldn’t see herself, or anyone like her, in a tent in the woods with a gun, ready to butcher and eat whatever she catches. So she set out to see what she was missing, and the result is FOGO - Fear of Going Outside, a hilarious and eye-opening look at nature by someone who finds it unnatural. Ivy Le is Vietnamese American comedian from Austin, Texas. She’s a first generation college grad who speaks Spanish, German, Vietnamese and English. She’s also a reporter, a poet, and a bi mom of two kids who is on a mission to queer up comedy and decolonize everything. She has performed at the Laugh After Dark Comedy Fest, Tower City Comedy Fest, Lysistrata Comedy Festival and more! Her podcast FOGO - Fear of Going Outside 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 [email protected] A Transcription of the show 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Marche: SmartypantsIs the world gonna end? Are computers gonna take over? Stephen Marche says he’s written lots of cataclysmic novels and columns about everything from the end of the monarchy to a new Civil War in the U.S. But he’s in love with Artificial Intelligence, thinks it’s like Hip-Hop; the next era of creativity. Marche admits optimism is kinda weird for him, but he thinks humans will remain in control. Wendy is not so sure. But then she and Mo are control freaks.Stephen Marche has written “The Next Civil War”, “The Unmade Bed: the Messy Truth About Men and Women” and now “The Next Election” with Andrew Yang. You can watch the 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 [email protected] A Transcription of the show 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone loves a drag queen, right? Well they did, thanks to the emergence of Pride, artists like RuPaul, and the success of shows like Canada’s Drag Race, dragging drag out of the back room and into the limelight where the queens love to shine. But lately there’s been a shift in support, with anti-gay protestors storming libraries to decry Drag Queen Story Hour, a program intended to gently and humorously teach children about inclusivity. It coincides with a rise in violence against trans and queer people, and Scarlett Bobo, for one, is not having it. Scarlett, a hugely popular drag performer, joins us to talk about their march, or “sashay”, to Queen’s Park to support a bill prohibiting violence and intimidation near drag venues. We also talk drag mothers, make-up and tucking. Scarlett Bobo is the creation of Ottawa born Matthew Cameron. A fusion of Hollywood golden era icons and modern pop vixen, Scarlett has wowed audiences worldwide, and was in the top 3 of the first season of Canada’s Drag Race. Now living in Los Angeles, they continue to fight the surge in hate crimes there and at home. As they say, “We’re not going back in the closet. We’re just going to get more queer. We’re going to throw more glitter.” 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 [email protected] 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 Transcription of this episode can be found here. You can also watch the show on YouTube Here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone asks her the same question: what happened? Amanda Marshall was at the top of her game in the late 90’s, selling millions of albums and sold-out concert halls and then … she disappeared. Except she didn’t really. It was a business decision as much as anything, but now she’s back with a new album and a new sense of purpose, but that same powerful, gut-wrenching voice and that truly amazing cape of hair. We talk musical roots, live performance, being an only child, being mixed race, food and, yes, hair care. Amanda Marshall is a Toronto born music phenom who studied music extensively during her childhood. She was discovered while performing on the Queen West bar scene by legendary guitarist Jeff Healey, who was struck by her big, powerful voice, and took her on tour. She has released three top selling studio albums, and is best known (so far) for her 1996 single, Birmingham. After a more than 20 year absence, Amanda released a new album, Heavy Lifting, and is currently on a Canada-wide tour. 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 [email protected] We now have a YouTube Channel! Please hit the Subscribe button when you get there. Transcription of this episode can be found 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 [email protected] 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

How do you remain an expert wine taster while watching your intake? A lot of spitting, obviously, although Natalie MacLean’s career is nothing to spit at. Natalie, who was gifted with an uncanny ability to pair wine with food, built her reputation on a hugely popular newsletter, but then came divorce, depression, defamation and yes, drinking too much. She tells us all about it, as well as what wine to pair with artichokes. Natalie MacLean, named the World's Best Drinks Journalist, has also won four James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards. She’s the bestselling author of Red, White and Drunk All Over. Her new memoir, Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much has just become a national bestseller. She hosts the NYT recommended podcast, Unreserved Wine Talk, and offers popular online wine and food pairing classes at www.nataliemaclean.com. Would you like to see the show? Here is the interview with Natalie on YouTube. Would you like to Read the show? We have a transcription. 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 [email protected] 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

Jody Vance calls herself a Mama Bear. Don’t mess with her. If she wants something, like hosting her own prime-time sportscast, she goes for it. The first woman ever in that role. But when a stalker came after her, then her son, online, she was devastated. Attacking her was one thing, but her kid, no. Mo and I both were told to not engage, it’s the price of doing business. Now Jody has taken the guy to court, he's pled guilty. And she’s still fighting for more tools against the tsunami of online hate, most of it against women who dare to have opinions. Jody Vance began her career in Vancouver, and kept saying she wanted to host a prime-time sports show until she did at Sportsnet! She now co-hosts a weekly talk show with Lynda Steele on CHEK. Did you know you can watch this episode here? You can read the show here. We made a transcription for you. 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 [email protected] 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

He's a middle aged white guy, backed by Disney, who makes dad jokes on the internet ... with an edge. Amidst all the hatred on social media, Brittlestar actually makes people feel better, or at least laugh at the things that don't. We had a lot of fun with Stewart Reynolds, which is what his mom calls him when he's in trouble. Brittlestar’s videos are watched by hundreds of thousands and he made the world's most popular branded video on Facebook. In spite of being “The world's favourite internet dad (unproven)”. He has yet to do a daddy blog. Did you know you can watch this episode too? We are 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 [email protected] 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

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. Jen also 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 Did you know you can watch this episode too? We are 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 [email protected] 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

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 [email protected] 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

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 [email protected] 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

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 [email protected] 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 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 [email protected] 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

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 [email protected] 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 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 [email protected] 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

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 [email protected] 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

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 [email protected] 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 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 [email protected] 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

You think YOU’re busy? Zabrina Douglas is a nurse, a mother of five AND a Juno nominated stand up comic. How does she do it all? With a lot of help from family, but one role informs the others. Not only are kids an endless source of material, but it turns out that humour can be helpful and healing in health care too. Come spend some time with this fun and lovely woman. Topics include crazy Jamaican parents, lying to your kids, and how to roll a bunch of small laughs into a big one.  Zabrina Douglas is arguably the busiest woman in show business, because she’s also a nurse and a mother to 5 children. Zabrina has been a regular on Kenny Robinson’s “Nubian Comedy Show” and performed at Just For Laughs, the Toronto Fringe Festival, the CBC and the Comedy Network. Her album “Things Black Girls Say” is available through Howl and Roar Records. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Kathleen Wynne got so worked up about the John Tory story (stepping down as Toronto mayor re: affair with staffer 38 years younger) she spilled her guts about an inappropriate affair when she was 21, and he, uh, wasn’t. She just told her kids before it was published. Kathleen tells us why the Tory story matters, and why life in modern politics is so tough on women politicians like Jacinda Ardern and Nicola Sturgeon. She was the first woman to be premier of Ontario, and the first openly gay premier in Canada. Kathleen Wynne was an MPP, served in several cabinet posts, and then became premier for one term. Various controversies ended her second bid. She still believes in politics, and still wants to make a difference. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

The Badass of Badasses Ann Medina says “The CBC fired me, and now they’re honouring me?”.  Yup, as they should. Medina was a foreign correspondent back when it was “revolutionary” for a woman to be in the field.  She tells us how talking to people about their lives was what mattered most, how she never worried about it being a man’s job, about why she got dumped, and how to solve all the problems of journalism today! Ann Medina was a TV reporter for NBC and ABC before coming to the CBC in the 70’s, becoming bureau chief in Lebanon, filing for the Journal, anchoring Saturday Report and now being inducted into the CBC News Hall of Fame. She was on the academic path to be a philosophy professor until she started getting mad at how the news was covered. She is still mad, and still an inspiration. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Canada may not have the best health care system on the world, but it’s better than most. That’s largely due to people like Dr. Danielle Martin. Read her bio for all her achievements, but just know that we have a fearless advocate for making things better. Just watch her take down a U.S. Senate Committee. We talk about all the problems: wait times, expensive drugs, and how to find a family doctor (hot tip: July is a good time to find a fresh one). Also, just a reminder to never ask a doctor at a party for free health advice. Danielle Martin is Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, the largest academic department of its kind in the world. She has worked and managed clinics in rural and remote communities offering family and maternity care. Dr. Martin has spent years as a senior hospital executive, most recently at Women’s College Hospital. An educator and role model, Dr. Martin schooled a U.S. Senate Committee on health care in a video that went viral, earning 35 million views and counting. The recipient of many awards and accolades, Dr. Martin become the youngest physician to receive the F.N.G. Starr Award, the highest honour in the Canadian Medical Association.  We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Are all geniuses rebels? Steve “Spaz” Williams changed movie history creating the first realistic monsters in James Cameron’s Abyss, Terminator 2, and Jurassic Park. Now the big new doc “Jurassic Punk” reveals how he refused to play the game, got ignored at the Oscars, got pissed in more ways than one, and maybe found contentment. On our podcast we talk about it all as we get a tour of his beautiful house in the Ozarks and pretend we get all the techy bits. Steve “Spaz” Williams grew up inToronto, studied animation at Sheridan College, then moved to California to work for Industrial Light and Magic. He worked with James Cameron and George Lucas creating the world’s first computer generated monsters on the Abyss, Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park. He is now the subject of a huge documentary called Jurassic Punk. He now lives in the Ozarks but is holding onto his Canadian passport. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Jessi Hempel was the first in her family to come out. Not long after, her father, sister, brother and mother followed suit, each one coming to terms with their gender, sexuality and secrets from their past. An accomplished writer and podcaster, Jessi decided to tell her family’s story through interviews with them, mixed with her own memories. The result is “The Family Outing: A Memoir”: When people we love go through hard times, we often want to make things better for them. We usually can’t. This is even more true when those people are our parents, our children, our siblings. Often the only thing we can do is love them enough to maintain our own boundaries so that when they emerge, we aren’t so angry at them and broken by them that we cannot be in relationship with them. Jessi Hempel is host of the award-winning podcast Hello Monday, and a senior editor-at-large at LinkedIn. For nearly two decades, she has been writing and editing features and cover stories about work, life and meaning in the digital age. Her book “The Family Outing: A Memoir” is published by Harper Collins. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Aisha Brown is the first Black Women Ever … to have a comedy special on Crave TV. That was back in 2020, and a lot has changed since then, but maybe not enough. Aisha fights the same demons that many comedians do, be they female, or people of colour, or both. Am I funny enough? Pretty enough? Can I be smart and truthful and still have people like me? We say yes, and also who cares? Topics covered include getting older, social media and penis size, none of which matter as much as you might think. Aisha Brown is a Toronto based comedian, writer and actress. She has written for Baroness Von Sketch, This Hour has 22 Minutes, the Beaverton and the Canadian Screen Awards. You might have also heard or seen her on all those shows, as well as The Debaters, Because News, Day 6 and Just For Laughs. Witty and self-confident on stage, Aisha shows us a more reflective mood. Comedy, after all, is serious business.  We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Lana Payne is a firecracker. She’ll answer anything. As the new head of UNIFOR Canada’s biggest private sector union, she talks about dealing with Doug Ford, allegations of corruption, making nice with other unions and the threat of a general strike. All with a big smile on her face. She’s proud of being the first woman in that job and super proud of her union roots in Newfoundland. Maureen is a bit obsessed with Norma Rae. Less so with Jimmy Hoffa. Lana Payne’s dad was a union guy in Newfoundland and Labrador who happily paid his dues. His daughter started as a labour reporter , then columnist, and is now the first woman to run UNIFOR, Canada’s largest private sector union. With the threat of the notwithstanding clause to shut down a CUPE strike, Payne’s UNIFOR promised 100,000 dollars to help fight back. It was a big bet and it worked. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Well OUR first man anyway. We’ve decided to open up the floodgates and talk to anyone fearless and/or funny enough to want to talk to US, and no one fits that bill better than Rick. He’s been called a national treasure, Canada’s beloved comic genius, the scourge of Parliament Hill, and … the nicest man you’d ever want to meet. We love Rick for a million reasons, but especially because he works at the intersection of comedy and journalism. Whether he’s talking to Americans about Prime Minister Jean Poutine, or trying to convince Stockwell Day to change his name to Doris, Rick makes us think and laugh, then think again. We talk about Newfoundland, Meech Lake, anger, friendship, being funny, paying it forward, and Rick’s love of his partner of 30 years. Rick Mercer has more awards (25 Geminis), honorary degrees (9), and causes (UNICEF, Casey House, climate change, anti-bullying, gay youth) than anyone ever. He’s an officer of the Order of Canada, an honorary RCAF colonel, and the recipient of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. Not bad for a kid from St. John’s who never finished Grade 12. He’s written several books, including his latest, “Talking to Canadians: a Memoir”, and is thinking of starting a podcast. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Erin Davis makes us think of Christmas. Not only because she was a long time morning host at CHFI, Canada’s biggest holiday music station. Not just because played the Fairy Godmother in one of Ross Petty’s Christmas pantomimes. Not because she’s an accomplished vocalist, a philanthropist, and a podcaster who reads bedtime stories while visions of sugarplums dance in our heads. These are all good reasons, but Erin embodies the festive season because she celebrates family, joy and resilience in her daily life. Nor is she a goody two-shoes. No, wait. She’s good, and she has two shoes (that Mo once had to fill), but she loves to laugh, so come and join us to hear about Erin’s next chapter. Erin Davis is an award-winning broadcaster, podcaster and best-selling author. She was the longtime host of 98.1 CHFI’s Morning Show until her retirement in 2016. Following the tragic death of her only daughter Lauren at the age of 24, Erin wrote the bestselling auto memoir Mourning Has Broken: Love, Loss and Reclaiming Joy (HarperCollins, 2019). She and her husband Rob now live on Vancouver Island, where they have family. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

It’s easy to get cynical about politics. But Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek says to heck with that. She’s going all in. And it’s not just the hats. She has 5 cowboy hats and 5 pairs of boots. Calgary is now the 3rd most diverse city in Canada. How does she keep everyone happy? Particularly with some controversial comments from premier Danielle Smith and a horse head dumped in Jyoti’s  driveway. We talk about being the first woman and the second POC as Calgary mayor. There may be a focus on her “necklace”.  Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek was born to Punjabi parents who taught her to care for others and stand up for herself. They immigrated to Canada when she was 4. She got her Phd in sociology from the University of Calgary and later became a city councillor in Calgary. In 2021 she became the first woman mayor in the city’s history. We talk to her about  being a politician, running a city in transition and the impossibility of being a “super mom”. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Women are not funny, or at least not as funny as men. Men don’t like funny women, they like women who laugh at their jokes, but not their penises. If women are funny, they’re probably lesbians. On and on it goes, despite ample evidence to the contrary. Enter Allison Dore, laughing. Allison is the founder of Howl and Roar Records, a female centric comedy record label that facilitates in the creation and distribution of content, in order to empower artists and help different voices and perspectives be heard. Plus, she’s funny. Allison, Wendy and Mo talk about Christopher Hitchens, atheism, standup, sit down, and trying to be funny in a dangerous time. Allison Dore is the host of the entertainment-focused, daily talk radio show The Breakdown, on SiriusXM channel 167. In 2018 she founded Howl & Roar Records, a female-centric comedy record label with a mandate to focus 70% of their output on women in the industry. In the remaining 30% priority is given to men in marginalized communities. Allison is a highly coveted speaker and host, and shares her story of battling mental illness and addiction in order to bring hope to those who are currently struggling.  We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do they do it? It’s easy to have a theory of why war correspondents put their lives on the line. Are they dealing with trauma? Are they addicted to the adrenalin? Maybe. Maybe they just have big hearts. For more than 20 years, photographer Lynsey Addario has been one of very few women covering conflict around the globe. Afghanistan, Libya, Sudan and now Ukraine. For the New York Times, for National Geographic, often at tremendous risk to her own safety. But of course, we can’t resist. We ask her why.  Photographer Lynsey Addario has been kidnapped twice. She puts her life on the line to show the world what war and conflict really look like, most recently in Ukraine. Her work is now being celebrated at the School for Visual Arts in NYC. She's won numerous awards, including a Pulitzer, and was even given a MacArthur genius grant. Our first official genius! We talk to her about still having to prove herself as a woman in the field, about love and war and everything in between.  We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

There’s Canadian famous, and then there’s Famous famous. Like author Louise Penny. Luckily, she was Wendy’s best friend in grade 9, so we were able to persuade her to come on the podcast. Maureen, Louise and Wendy talk all about friendship, fame, and facing fear. Too many f’s? Well, that’s her motto: Don’t be Afraid. She’s just published book #18 in her Three Pines Inspector Gamache series. A World of Curiosities. She will be speaking at the Indigo bookstore in Toronto on December 2nd, the same day Prime Video launches the Three Pines series with Alfred Molina as Gamache! 18 books in 18 years! A #1 New York Times Bestseller! Louise Penny’s new book is out, the latest in her Inspector Armand Gamache Three Pines murder mysteries. A World of Curiosities. Often compared to a modern day Agatha Christie, her work is a lot more than cozy, with ill winds blowing in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, the setting for all the murders. We talk about the books, about growing up, and the value of friendship. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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 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

She’s a badass blues woman with the best laugh in this or any other business. Sass Jordan joins us to talk about female rockers (there aren’t that many), great musicians, and how to spot true talent. Not giving a damn about anything except love, family and creativity, and maybe food and drink. What it’s like to be in Dad territory, as in “My dad thinks you’re hot”. Warning: lots of hooting and hollering, giggling and cackling.  Born in England, raised in Montreal, Sarah Jordan became Sass because she’s full of it. Named Most Promising Vocalist by the Junos in 1989, Sass has kept that promise. Billboard listed her as the Top Female Rock Artist of the year in 1992, the year she released “Racine”, her landmark album that made everyone a believer. An actress on stage and screen, Sass also sat as a judge on all six seasons of Canadian Idol. Her latest album, Bitches Blues, featuring the song Still Alive and Well is available on Stony Plain Records.  We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

You may have had The Talk with one of your parents. You know, the squirmy, uncomfortable and downright incredulous chat about what happens when a man and a woman truly love each other, etc.etc. But for many of us, the fun part of it all came from Sue. Sue Johansen, the feisty, hilarious, and deeply kind creator of Sex with Sue. For decades, on radio and television,in Canada and the U.S., Sue explained how stuff was done, safely and enjoyably. Now filmmaker Lisa Rideout and Sue’s own daughter Jane join us to tell us the deeper story of Sue Johanson, and why her straight-from-the-hip message is more important than ever.  Jane Johanson Jane Johanson is an actor, singer, dancer and choreographer who has been gracing stages for the past 40 years. From the age of 14, Jane worked as a receptionist at the groundbreaking Don Mills Collegiate birth control clinic for her mom Sue Johanson. Growing up with Sue, Jane learned the value of hard work and fearlessness. Not to mention sewing, knitting, baking and carrying on the tradition of working with sourdough.  Lisa Rideout Director, Writer, Producer Lisa Rideout is an award-winning director who makes films about topics that make people uncomfortable. Death, sex, identity, race, politics and more are presented from a nuanced perspective that challenges stereotypes with the aim of creating more tolerance. She is unafraid to tackle controversial topics and has done so by showcasing the stories of musicians, sex workers, activists, death doulas, adult entertainers and more. Her latest documentary Sex with Sue, about renowned sex expert Sue Johanson, can be seen on WNetwork and Stack TV. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

We’ve always been here, writes Ann-Marie MacDonald. And so have the moors. She calls her new book the queerest she’s ever written. But what is queer? Isn’t everybody different? Fayne, published by Penguin Random House Canada, is placed in the late 1800’s and is full of love, diversity, and magyk. There’s also a fascination with pudding! The book is huge! So huge, we feared it might be a chore to read. It definitely was not. Maureen was a bit intimidated to talk to her. After all, Ann-Marie MacDonald is a playwright, author, actress, even a tv host! And now she’s written a new, huge book. If you thought Fall on Your Knees was good, check out Fayne, published by Penguin Random House Canada and on sale now. She calls it her queerest book ever, and it’s full of magyk, love and learning too. Turns out she’s not intimidating at all. Unless brains, opinions, and a sense of humour put you off! We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

So glad you asked! What started as a little podcast hosted by two nervous women with love in their hearts and stars in their eyes … is still a little podcast hosted by two nervous women etc etc. But we’re still here, and it’s going pretty well! Join Wendy and Mo for a look back at the first 12 episodes: hear about the fights, the scandals, the guests we didn’t get, the ones we did that scared or shocked us, and the ones we loved the best (spoiler alert: we love them all). Plus: what we’ve learned, who we have coming up, and a special announcement, but only if you listen to the end! We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Broadcasting is a brutal business, especially for women over fifty who may or may not have gray hair. There is one woman, however, who has been at the top of her game, on both radio and television, and she is, of course, Marilyn Denis. Host of the appropriately named The Marilyn Denis Show on CTV, as well as CHUM-FM’s perpetually top rated radio morning show Marilyn Denis and Jamar, Marilyn is everyone’s best friend. She actually is one of Mo’s, and she joins Mo and Wendy for a free wheeling, no holds barred discussion about being a mother, a grandmother AND a newlywed! Not only that, but Marilyn gives us the lowdown on what cosmetic work she’s had done. That’s something you’re not going to hear anywhere else, and we love her all the more for it. Come hear what becomes a legend most. Marilyn Denis is one of the best and most beloved broadcasters in the country, and we would say that even if we didn’t know her. She has hosted CHUM-FM’s top rated morning show since 1986, and the equally popular daytime talk show “The Marilyn Denis Show” on CTV since 2011. Mother to radio host Adam Wylde (Virgin 99.9), and grandmother to adorable Everley, Marilyn married her high school prom date Jim just a few years ago. Marilyn tells us how they found each other again, and talks about the trials and tribulations of being famous, growing older in front of an audience, and why she’s never retiring, because why the hell should she? We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Just when you’re convinced the world is a dark place with an uncertain future, along comes Hannah Alper. It’s not that Hannah’s a foolish optimist. She is, as Gloria Steinem calls it, a “hopeaholic”. Hannah has been an activist for social and environmental change since she was 9 years old - and that wasn’t that long ago! She’s a motivational speaker, a blogger, an author and budding journalist. She’s also a second year university student, and yes, she assures us that she’s also hanging out and having fun. Just listening to her puts a smile on our face. Come be inspired. The kids are alright.  Hannah Alper was born in Toronto in this century. In July 2012, at the age of 9, Alper launched a blog called Call Me Hannah, speaking out about causes important to her: animal welfare, habitat destruction, and the natural environment. With a social media following in the tens of thousands, Hannah has emerged as an author, a motivational speaker, an ambassador for Free the Children, co-president of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization in Ontario, a TedX talker, and a budding journalist. In 2018, Bloomberg Businessweek named her one of 18 people to watch, so watch her! She’s also a student at Western University, where she assures us she’s having as much fun as she should.  We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

If you are famous and in trouble, she is the one you call. She’s Canada’s pre-eminent criminal defence lawyer. Marie Henein defended Jian Ghomeshi. Was she doing her job or a “traitor to women”? We found her defiant, in love with her job, and surprisingly funny! She dishes on marriage, her favourite tv shows, and the stupidity of trying to find a “work life balance”. Marie Henein is a criminal defence lawyer who’s fought for a lot of infamous Canadians and become famous herself. She’s defended Jian Ghomeshi, and Michael Bryant. Mentored by the recently departed Eddie Greenspan, she now runs her own large firm and dared to bare her arms in a staff photo. Oh my! She has written a memoir about her love of the law, hating being called exotic, and how to identify a Canadian. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

 Why are we so obsessed with the mob? Can women be just as cutthroat? Is Italian culture too macho? We have all the answers (not!) in our chat from Rome with Barbie Latza Nadeau about her new book “The Godmother”. She tells us about admiring and reviling “Pupetta” , who, ya, shot her husband’s killer and became a mafia icon. Barbie got to interview her just before she died. She spills about Mafia women and refusing to be intimidated after the attack on Salman Rushdie. Barbie Latza Nadeau is the Rome correspondent for the Daily Beast. She also wrote about Sex, Murder and the Italian sex trade involving Nigerian women, and “Baby Face: Sex Drugs and the Inside Story of Amanda Knox”, which was turned into a movie. She has just published The Godmother: Murder , Vengeance and the Bloody Struggle of Mafia Women”. (Out September 7) Sex and violence are always a theme. And Pupetta , or Lady Camorra, knew it. Barbie tells how women are taking on more of a role in a mafia culture that never dies. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Going There. She moved to London, but boy, she’s still writing. Leah McLaren talks to us about her new book ”Where You End and I Begin”. About her writer mom, family commitments, being weird (aren’t we all?) and “whatever happened to that fucking guy?” Ya, that one, who may have started it all in a barn when her mom was 12. Maureen cracks a few narcissist jokes. Leah is not sure they apply. Leah McLaren is a writer now based in London. She started off as a columnist for the Globe and Mail, where she was like a Canadian Carrie Bradshaw, writing about sex and other fixations in the big city. She now writes for Macleans, the Toronto Star and a bunch of U.K. papers. After years of trauma, drama, and lots of love she has written a book about her and her mom. Where You End and I Begin. We wonder what mom thinks! Is it true that “commitment sucks the life out of you”? There are also tales about never trusting anyone to tell your story, especially a journalist. Sign up for Leah's Newsletter here. https://leahmclaren.substack.com/p/how-to-write-your-life-without-losing We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Jen Agg is the owner and power behind Toronto restaurants The Black Hoof (now Bar Vendetta), Rhum Corner, and Grey Gardens. She is both revered and criticized for outspokenness, her work ethic and her honesty with regards to rampant sexism and discrimination in the restaurant industry. She has no time for Michelin stars, and thinks vodka is stupid. Jen also wrote a bestselling memoir called “I Hear She’s a Real Bitch”. Restaurateur Jen Agg talks to us about the trials and tribulations of running her many venues in the midst of rampant misogyny, personal challenges (her beloved husband had a stroke), and oh, a pandemic. Outspoken as always, Jen talks about writing, traveling, restaurant critics and the value of truth. Apparently the customer isn’t always right. Caution: C word is dropped, and Wendy and Mo get all worried about it. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

You can take a girl out of the Maritimes, but she’ll still go home to visit. Jax Irwin, morning co-host on Toronto’s Virgin radio, joins us to talk about life and laughter, coming out, her love of family, and playing with the good guys. Plus: bringing your girlfriend home to mom, and where to get an octopus costume. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

You think you know Jann Arden: she’s Canada’s cranky songbird, but still comes across as everyone’s best friend. Writer, singer, songwriter, actress, comedian, animal rights activist - Jann’s all that, but still maintains that failure is an integral part of personal success. We talk about mothers, addiction, and the importance of friends. Oh, and Wendy drops the F-bomb. Again. This highly anticipated convo with Jann may not be what you expect: of course she’s funny and foul-mouthed, but also deeply kind and perceptive. Come sit by Jann’s crackling fire and for a laugh and a couple of dives into all the things that matter. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Former Justice minister and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould is not just angry–not just determined to improve the lives of indigenous people. She’s all that, but we discover she’s also a hoot! She dishes on how hugs from prime minister Justin Trudeau made her skin crawl. And she gets personal about her hubby, her sister, not being able to have kids, and trying to function on 3 hours sleep a night. Jody, aka Puglass, is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation and lives in Vancouver and Cape Mudge where she is about to publish a follow up to “Indian” in the Cabinet. She talks to us about the SNC-Lavalin affair and why it’s sometimes important to be difficult. Oh, and Wendy is accused of paying to get an interview.  We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

If Mary Walsh isn’t the mother of Canadian comedy, she is certainly its sister. Born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland, a founding member of the CODCO comedy troupe, Mary went on to co-create the legendary news satire program This Hour has 22 Minutes. There, she created the infamous character Marg Delahunty, a fearless, sword-wielding warrior princess in cat’s eye glasses who became the scourge of Parliament Hill. A writer, director and novelist, Mary still lives in St. John’s, just down the street from her husband. She spoke to us the day after the 2022 Oscars, when the world was reeling from Will Smith’s attack on presenter Chris Rock. This led to an intense discussion about violence, violence against women, against comedians, and against women comedians. We also talk about getting older and getting funnier, sexy politicians and the lack thereof, Mary’s unusual upbringing, unconventional marriage, and love of family, We also learn about Milltowns and rainbow blowjobs. We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign Up for our Substack Newsletter. We also want to thank everyone at Schneider & Pollack Wealth Management for making this podcast possible. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at [email protected] 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

Howdy! Once upon a time, two lady broadcasters realized they weren’t really ladies, or even broadcasters anymore. So they became podcasters, and part-time cowgirls. Wendy and Mo talk about all the truly strange coincidences in their lives, how they came together, how naive they were thinking a podcast would be easy, and the trials and tribulations of finding, identifying and recruiting other women of ill repute. We also discuss how both our traditional careers came to an untimely end, and ponder the mystery of The Woman with No Pants. It’s all over the place, but so are we. Here’s how it started, and how it’s going.  Sign Up for Our Newsletter! https://womenofillrepute.substack.com/p/coming-soon 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