'The C Word with Catharine Redden'
START HERE → BLOODY HORRENDOUS
If you’re new and wondering where to begin, scroll nearly to the bottom and find Bloody Horrendous.
It was my second episode, and it’s still the one people land on.
It’s about first periods.
Not the neat version. The real one.
• What it was actually like
• What we weren’t told
• What’s changed (thank god)
• What hasn’t (of course)
It’s funny in parts, uncomfortable in others, and very recognisable if you’ve ever had a body that does things without asking your permission.
THE C-WORD WITH CATHARINE REDDEN
A podcast for difficult women.
Inside:
• Bodies that don’t behave
• Anxiety that doesn’t respond to medication tested predominantly on men, while being told to just meditate
• Ageing without apology
• Small, everyday moments where sexism just… hums in the background
No self-improvement arc.
No neat conclusions.
Just the ongoing, slightly absurd experience of being a woman paying attention.
This is what it sounds like from inside one life.
Not polished.
Not resolved.
Just said out loud.
Welcome to the party of women’s direct experience.
'The C Word with Catharine Redden'
Once You See It, You See It Everywhere
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This episode of The C-Word with Catharine Redden comes to you from a spare bedroom in Loxton, South Australia. The sound is a little echoey. The ideas are not.
Today is not a rage episode. It’s a recalibration.
Using the Macquarie Dictionary definitions of sexism and feminism as a starting point, I walk through 115 years of legal, cultural and structural change for women in Australia and beyond. From the 1902 Commonwealth Franchise Act to the criminalisation of marital rape in 1992. From the marriage bar to paid parental leave. From my Nana’s life, born in 1910, to the unfinished business of 2026.
This episode asks:
What does it mean when women are not counted in the design phase of life?
What does progress actually look like?
And what is still unresolved?
Feminism is not hostility toward men. It is structural correction. It is generational recalibration in systems that were not designed with us in mind.
This episode is dedicated to my Nanna ~
Evelyn Maud Eime (née Smith)
Born 14 February 1910 – Died 2010
Never far from my heart.
Further reading and influences for this episode include
‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’ by Caroline Criado Perez
‘The Beauty Myth’ by Naomi Wolf.
I’ll also be writing on Substack about other texts that have shaped my feminism and understanding of structural inequality.
🎙️👀 What worked? What dragged? What made you mutter “Jesus Christ, Catharine”? Tell me.
Content Note
This podcast gets into bodies, panic attacks, trauma, sexism, mental health, and the occasional emotional sinkhole. Please look after yourself only listen when you feel safe to engage with potentially triggering material.
Also, I swear.
Support
These aren’t here as a formality. I’ve used some of these myself.
Lifeline 13 11 14 (24/7)
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (ages 5–25)
1800RESPECT 1800 737 732
Emergency 000
Outside Australia, local crisis services are available.
The Socials (I'd love a follow)
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/catharine.redden/
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/catharine-redden/
Support The Pod
Substack (where I write stuff)
https://catharineredden.substack.com
Buy Me a Coffee (where you can financially support the pod, and me!)
https://buymeacoffee.com/CatharineRedden
Credits
Recorded on the lands of the Ramindjeri and Ngarrindjeri peoples.
Sovereignty never ceded.
Recorded & edited at Ridley Farm Studio by Luke Ridley
https://ridleyfarmstudio.com.au...