The State of Us

Jane has only gone and gotten engaged! She popped the question to the lovely Andrea and gives all the gory, gushy, stressy proposal details.  Yer all invited to the wedding, BTW.

Ro shares every gory detail about childbirth and her first 12 weeks as a mother. 

A Halloween-y episode to celebrate spooky season. We talk about what scares us... 

But how are ya, really though? It's mental health awareness week, and it got us thinking - when do you ever really ask your mates how they are? So we did it on the pod.  Ask your mates how they are. Listen to them if you can. We'd all be better off if we were a little more vulnerable. 

It's a biggie! Ro's due date is TOMORROW. We have the last pod hurrah before mini Linnie makes their grand entrance.  Podcast Update: We'll be taking a little break from the main channel for a while, but don't worry, we'll still be putting out content for patrons - bear with us though, we may be a little late publishing, but we'll never leave you without content. 

We take a trip down memory lane, reliving our childhood summer memories. Three months of milling about, calling for your mates, and playing tip the can. 

Society is opening up! ... em, yay?

Another batch of completely random questions from our listeners. Sorry about the giggle fit.

We got some UNREAL questions in from you guys and mixed bag too. 

What do have for breakfast? What are your favourite food combos? What's your go-to weekday dinner? What and when each other eat is one of the most mundane and fascinating topics we've ever covered.

Ro dropped a baby bombshell this week, and FINALLY we can chat about the rocky road to pregnancy and how she is feeling about it all. 

One of our listeners got in touch to ask advice on how to approach a friend who just could not shake an intense crush. How do you tell a mate gently that their crush isn't going anywhere? Well, luckily we have had a tonne of experience with this in our friendship. 

Our first agony aunt episode of 2021. Thank's to all of you who messaged in and trusted us with your dilemmas - a problem shared and all that.  If we didn't get to yours, no worries, we may just think it's juicy enough to do a whole episode on it. Watch this space. 

We chat about trivial things that drive us feckin' mental for no good reason.

We get curious about those everyday, mundane things that no one talks about... 

In the wake of the publication of the final report of the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes, we chat to Caelainn Hogan, journalist and author of Republic of Shame about the ongoing legacy of the religious-run institutions for unmarried mothers in Ireland.   Recording on Zoom, so sorry for loss of audio quality.     

"I'd love to meditate - but I'm just so shit at it." If you've ever said this to yourself, here's the episode for you! Meditation instructor and writer, Conor Creighton, talks about how you get self-soothe and cope with some simple daily meditation practices.    Check out https://www.meditatingwithconor.com/  

What it was like being raised in Catholic Ireland. From confessions, to confirmations, we talk about what growing up Catholic in Ireland was like and how it has impacted our adulthood. 

It's that time of the year, lads! Inspired by the Toy Show, we run through some of ours, and yours, favourite Christmas toys of all time. 

Remember we were all mad into this game when we were teenagers?! Turns out it less fun as adults...

It's our dream to be on the BBC show, so let us have our moment. 

Grab a cuppa, light some candles... We scare ourselves shiteless with some candlelit ghost stories. Happy Hallowe'en!

We had the pleasure of chatting to the super inspirational sounder, Vicki McGrath. Just last year, at 34, she got the earth shattering diagnosis that she had breast cancer. She chatted about her journey through treatment, and how she stayed positive throughout her illness. BTW - October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Check out www.breastcancerireland.com or www.irishcancersociety.com.

* Trigger warning for discussion of depression, self-harm, and suicide.   September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and with the current social, economic, and political climate, people are struggling more than ever with their mental health. How are you doing? We take the first step to minding ourselves by just checking in with how we are feeling. 

When we did a call out for agony aunt problems from listeners, we had no idea we'd get so many! So...we did a part 2. This time around, we tackle the dreaded quarter-life crisis. 

We love a good agony aunt episode, and this time was no different. We got a mixed bag of juicy questions from listeners who've found themselves in problematic situations - from money woes, to friend drama and lots more. While we're in no way qualified to solve all your problems, we take a deep dive and offer up some fresh insight. Thank you to everyone who trusted us enough to message in! 

It dawned on us that really, virtually all conflict comes from lack of communication skills. With that in mind, we're joined by friend of the podder, Maeve Acheson. Maeve is a trainee therapist, the host of new podcast Take Time with Maeve Acheson and an all-around sounder! 

...or, The Fear of Missing Out. We say it so flippantly but in actuality FOMO can lead to crippling anxiety and a whole host of other mental health and self-esteem issues.  We talk about how Insta-stories are fueling our FOMO, share our listeners experiences with it and give some helpful tips for dealing. 

A few weeks back, we've been hearing loads about psychedelic drugs and the use of them for recreational and spiritual and even medical use. We were mad curious and wanted to ask more Q's, SO, we invited on Ciara Sherlock - the founding director of The Psychedelic Society of Ireland. We chat to Ciara about how she became interested in psychedelic drugs, drug culture in Ireland in general and about her work as a lead facilitator of Psychedelic Experience Weekends, a programme offering legal, modern ceremonial retreats in The Netherlands using psilocybin-truffles.  Find out more here: https://www.facebook.com/psysocire/ Follow Ciara on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/ciarashurlook/  

This week, we're talking about our emerging from our lockdown cocoon, all things LGBTQ+ Pride and the Black Lives Matter movement.  If you liked what you hear, you can tune into Shitetalk every 2 weeks by pledging $6 per month. 

In the wake of the George Floyd murder, and the subsequent protests sparked by this incredibly cruel act of police brutality in the US - we felt it was important to discuss our subconscious racial biases, our inaction up until this point, and how we are trying our very best to do better by educating ourselves.

Listen back on our Zoom live show, as we discussed problems sent in by listeners, and TRY to give a little advice and offer a fresh perspective. Thanks to the bunch of sounder patrons who jumped on the call and joined in.  A problem shared and all that...  

...Just like the rest of the country, feelings of teenage angst and awkwardness came flooding back as Lenny Abrahamson's adaptation of Sally Rooney's 'Normal People' debuted on RTE. We go right back to our coming-of-age experiences - leaving school, starting college, first loves and first heartbreaks. 

We're hearing all sorts of goss about single guys and gals getting their dating fix virtually during the COVID-19 lockdown. Video sex, zoom dates, Movie night voice noting... you guys are resourceful. 

We're 100% obsessed with our Lola and Frankie, and it seems like all you guys are obsessed with your pets too. We chat about our current pets, past pets, and pet peeves.  Recorded on Zoom, FYI.

We were far to distracted to delve into new topics, so we decided to do a quickfire episode touching on several topics suggested by listeners.  

We had an entirely different episode planned, but due to the dramatic change in current events, we felt how could we not talk about the absolute madness that is the COVID-19 pandemic.   

Whether you want kids, don't want kids, or already have kids... this one is for you. Joined by the unreal Rosemary MacCabe (@RosemaryMacCabe on Insta/Twitter). Inspired by Rosemary's essay for Medium The Taboo of the Childless Thirty Something LINK: https://humanparts.medium.com/the-taboo-of-the-childless-thirty-something-3ff51c4a15aa  

Are you a people pleaser? It's tough to say 'no' to people and sometimes the guilt can completely consume you. We talk about learning how to not be 'Yes' gals all the time.

Two proud vagina owners talk about everything from UTIs, in-grown hairs and thrush, to masturbation, periods and labiaplasties. We covered A LOT of ground in this one. 

We're in the thick of January, the most depressing time of the year (or so we're told), but we don't have to wallow in our post-Christmas comedown. We're joined by counsellor, Mary Hogan, who shares some coping strategies for dealing with anxiety, low mood, and depression. Follow Mary on Instagram @tiny_therapist or visit her blog www.themindguide.net. 

Happy New Year! As we struggle to settle back into normal life after a mad Christmas, we look back on 2019, welcome 2020 and talk about our goals for the year. 

Christmas - the highs, the lows, the pints, the chats, the engagements, the feeling like a teenager in your parent's gaff, the empty bank accounts, the food guilt. We talk all things Christmas, from our favourite Christmas movies to our best ever gifts.

Most of us dream of quitting the 9-5 and turning our side-hustle into our full time job. Well, that's exactly what Ruth Dempsey, the brains behind vintage store Finder's Keepers did a few years ago. We take The State of Us on tour (back to our hometown - Bray) to chat to Ruth about taking risks and the highs and lows of being your own boss. Check out Finder's Keepers on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finderskeepersbray

Spurred on by Emma Watson announcing her relationship status as 'self-partnered', we asked our followers to share their views and experiences of being a single woman in Ireland. Particularly discussing societal pressures to find an S.O., yet being completely happy out being single.  Emma Watson article: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/self-partnered-emma-watson-the-sudden-rise-of-the-single-positivity-movement-1.4074875

Money makes the world go 'round, and sometimes talking about moolah can be a taboo. We discuss everything cash dollah in this episode - from negotiating salary, to earning more (or less) than your partner and everything in between.

We back! For our first episode back behind the mics after a 2-month break, we take it easy and talk about what we've been up to and what it's like adjusting back to a normal routine.

We're still on holz, but for the craic here's the first-ever episode we ever recorded for The State of Us. It was recorded way back in 2017, and never saw the light of day until we released it as a patron-only episode a few months back. We discussed all things 'Anxiety' - probably spurred on by the anxiety of releasing a podcast for the first time. 

We're working more than ever, taking on new commitments and constantly having to socialise to avoid feeling friend-guilt... it's no wonder that we are BURNT OUT. Jane's work pal Maeve joins us on this episode to talk about our experience with 'burnout' and how we can avoid it.

Once again, we lash on our agony aunt hats and take a stab at helping our listeners with some of their problems. While we are in no way qualified to give ACTUAL life advice -  what we do give, is our objective perspective. Sometimes that's helpful, right?  

Edit: recorded in April 2019 - we released this to everyone on July 28th 2019. If you like what you hear, become a patron at www.patreon.com/thestateofus In episodeo of Shitetalk, we talk utter shite about Ro's new period Knicks, Jane's hatred (yes, hatred) of Game of Thrones, and trying (and failing) to get into meditating.