Last weekend our Book Club gathered for a live event at Kildare Village to discuss the very best reads for summer 2025. Róisín Ingle, Bernice Harrison and Ann Ingle were joined by special guest bestselling author Marian Keyes and a room full of Women’s Podcast listeners.

There were recommendations to suit everyone and every mood, including a gripping crime thriller, a “life-changing” self help book and

But before we bring you that recording, Irish Times opinion editor Jennifer O’Connel is here to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week, including the unveiling of the creator behind toxic gossip site Tattle Life.

For the full list of summer reading recommendations, click here.

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The tradition of women taking their husband’s surname stems from a time when marriage effectively erased a woman’s legal identity and she would become her husband’s property. While this is no longer the case and society has thankfully moved on, the practice of women changing their last name upon marriage still persists today. But why?

In a recent feature for The Irish Times, journalist Áine Kenny poses the question: “If changing one’s name isn’t a big deal and isn’t sexist, why don’t we see more men taking their wife’s surname?”

To explore this further, Kenny joins Róisín Ingle on the latest episode of the podcast, alongside parenting columnist Jen Hogan. Together, they discuss why they did and didn’t keep their own names after marriage.

But first Ingle and Kathy Sheridan are in the studio together to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week including the long awaited excavation of the Tuam babies site, which is to begin on Monday.

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It was a bright afternoon in April 2015 when Mary Ann Kenny, a university lecturer, received a call that changed her life in an instant. Her husband John, with whom she had two young sons, had collapsed while out jogging and died at the age of 60. Struggling to cope with the sudden loss and the loneliness that engulfed her life in the aftermath, Kenny's grief soon turned to depression, which later progressed into psychotic delusions.

In her new memoir, The Episode, Kenny details her descent into psychosis, her hospitalisation, and her journey back to health and happiness. In this episode, she talks to Róisín Ingle about the impact of her husband’s death, the trauma of her psychiatric treatment, and how she has made sense of her mental health crisis.

But first, Irish Times reporter Ella Sloane joins us to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week, including Greta Thunberg’s aid mission to Gaza and what new research has revealed about the happiness levels of Irish teenagers.

To enter our live book club event, go to Irishtimes.com/events

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