Former Australian PM Julia Gillard explains the mission behind her podcast - and where its earnings go
The former prime minister of Australia, now Founder and Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London and the Australian National University in Canberra, sits down to share challenges and triumphs with fellow trailblazers.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
What is the mission for A Podcast of One’s Own?
It’s to share the stories of people from around the world working to advance gender equality. Our guests have included Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan, film-maker and activist Beverley Ditsie and author Elif Shafak. Any earnings from the podcast go towards the work of the Institute for Global Leadership to bring together research, practice and advocacy into a powerful force for change.
How does communicating through your podcast differ from other platforms you’ve had, and what does it bring you?
As a politician, I spent so much of my life being interviewed, so in my post-politics life it’s been really nice to flip the roles and be the one asking the questions! I get to speak with incredible women.
And you already have your own spin-off series?
I’ve always been a voracious reader, and we now have a monthly book club conversation. My co-hosts are the author Kathy Lette and the poet Sarah Holland-Batt. We recently read Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis – it was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Podcasts have proved to be an effective medium for celebrating women’s achievements in different fields. What separates your programme from the pack?
A Podcast of One’s Own is unique in that it has consistently kept a focus on how our interviewees’ lives, careers and experiences have been shaped by gender – whether that’s the norms they experienced growing up, barriers they faced in the workplace, or their experience online and on social media. In celebrating our guests’ achievements, we gain so many insights for our listeners about the challenges they have dealt with. Each story is unique and yet we also have many shared experiences as women that we can all relate to and learn from.
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