A Podcast of One's Own with Julia Gillard

Julia's Book Club: The Handmaid's Tale

In this month’s episode of Julia’s Book Club, Julia Gillard and Sarah Holland-Batt discuss a truly iconic novel that became a cultural phenomenon, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.First published in 1985, the story follows Offred, a woman who has been assigned as a Handmaid to a household in the Republic of Gilead, a religious totalitarian state that has overthrown the United States government amidst environmental catastrophe, political instability and declining birth rates. Offred’s sole function is to produce children. Julia and Sarah discuss why this book has continuously resonated with readers over the four decades since it was released. They also delve into its wider cultural impact, through the hugely successful television series starring Elizabeth Moss and at present day political protests.Show notes:The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is available online and at all good bookstores. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Gillard and Julie Inman-Grant: A Podcast of One's Own Live

In a special live recording from the 2026 Women Deliver conference in Melbourne, Julia Gillard interviews Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant. Julie began her career working in Washington at the dawn of the digital age, and went on to work for Microsoft, Twitter and Adobe. Over time she became increasingly concerned about what technology companies could do to keep people safe, and what they were actually doing. Now, as Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, she’s working to close that gap by leading world-first efforts to regulate social media, protect children online, and hold some of the world’s most powerful companies to account.Show notes:To learn more about the work of the eSafety Commission visit https://www.esafety.gov.au/To learn more about Women Deliver visit https://womendeliver.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia's Book Club - Yesteryear

In this month’s episode of Julia’s Book Club, Julia Gillard and Kathy Lette discuss Yesteryear, the hit debut novel from Caro Claire Burke.Yesteryear follows Natalie - a wife and mother living on a ranch in Idaho and promoting a traditional lifestyle to her many millions of followers on social media. One day Natalie wakes up in a strange version of reality, where her home and family look similar but different.What follows is a fascinating examination of tradition, fame, faith and the performative way so many of us live our lives. Julia and Kathy discuss how the book delves into some of the biggest issues facing our world today, the real life phenomenon of ‘tradwives’ on social media, and how well they each thought the twists and turns of the book played out. Show notes: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is published by Harper Collins and is available in all good bookstores.To learn more about the tradwives research at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership visit https://www.kcl.ac.uk/giwl/assets/giwl-tradwife-report.pdf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Gillard and Thangam Debbonaire live at Hay Festival

In this special episode recorded live at the 2026 Hay Festival in Wales, Julia Gillard sits down with Thangam Debbonaire to discuss their roles as judges for this year’s Women Prize.Julia is chairing the judging panel for the Women's Prize for Fiction, while Thangam is the chair of judges for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.In this entertaining conversation the pair take listeners behind the scenes of judging one of the world’s most prestigious literary prizes. The prizes are awarded annually to a female author of any nationality for the best novel and non-fiction book of the year written in English and published in the UK.Julia and Thangam talk about the rigours of reading dozens of books in a short time frame, heated debates amongst judges and the exceptional books on each shortlist. The winners will be announced in London on June 11.Show notes: To learn more about the Women’s Prize and the books on the long and shortlists visit https://womensprize.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia's Book Club - A Room of One's Own

In this very special episode of Julia’s Book Club, Julia Gillard and Sarah Holland-Batt discuss the work that inspired the name of this podcast.Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own was originally delivered as two lectures at Girton College, Cambridge almost a hundred years ago.Despite the passage of time many of the themes and ideas Woolf explores in this short but weighty book remain startlingly relevant today. Julia and Sarah discuss what has and hasn't changed for women since the 1920s, the evolution of women's writing and Virginia Woolf herself.Content warning: this book and episode includes themes of mental illness, sexual abuse and suicide. Please take care while listening and if you need help or information please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit https://www.lifeline.org.au/Show notes: A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf is published by Penguin Australia and is available at all good bookstores. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.