The Great Equalizer

• BONUS | ALL THE OTHER MOTHERS HATE ME! with author Sarah Harman

  On this BONUS episode of The Great Equalizer, Sam and Charlene interview Sarah Harman, author of the most anticipated reads of 2025, so named by Readers Digest, Publishers Weekly, The Sunday Times Style, Time Magazine and Marie Claire.A satirical domestic thriller, All the Other Mothers Hate Me follows single mother and washed-up former girl-band singer Florence Grimes, who slums around London spending dwindling royalty checks on elaborate nail art. That is, until school bully Alfie Risby, the 10-year-old heir to a frozen food empire, mysteriously vanishes on a class trip.The bigger problem? Florence’s son Dylan is high on the list of suspects and, on the day of Alfie’s disappearance, Florence finds the missing boy's backback – and a journal with some incriminating diary entries – under Dylan’s bed.A sardonic ode to modern motherhood, All the Other Mothers Hate Me won the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize in 2023 and generated significant buzz at the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair. It wasn’t long before the book was optioned for a television adaptation, with the rights secured by Christopher Storer, creator of award-winning dark comedy series The Bear.Sarah Harman is a recovering journalist living in London with over a decade of experience in breaking major news around the world. Most recently, Sarah was a foreign correspondent for NBC News, where she reported from five continents for Today, MSNBC and Nightly News.Sarah shares more about her journey to becoming a writer, moments in her life where "all the other mothers" have hated her, and a moment of invisibility that made it into the book. We also chat about who we think might be a perfect on-screen fit for some of Harman's characters, and what we really think about mother-focused MLM schemes...Gang's all here! We're just waiting for you 😉😏__🖤 LISTEN 💛 LIKE 🖤 SHARE 💛 SUBSCRIBEAnd tell us what you think of the episode 🫶🏽__#authorinterviews #debutnovel #currentread #motherhood #parentingpodcast #booktube TV Adaptation · Sarah's Debut Success · Why I Hid My Child to Keep My Dream Job · Watch us on You Tube

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• Episode 103 | MENSTRUATION! Unpacking periods and menstrual health as moms

  On this episode of The Great Equalizer we're spilling all the tea on Aunt Flo with a full episode on first periods, menstrual health, and talking to our kids about Shark Week (starting with anatomically correct terminology, of course 😉) We're finally pulling the plaster on a topic that we've always wanted to cover, and one that we feel especially passionate about as women and mothers. We're talking about our very first cycles, how we navigated periods as teens and young women, and how we've chosen to approach menstruation with our children (regardless of gender). There may or may not be a debate about scrotums vs ball sacks, but you're going to have to tune in to see what that's all about 😆 We'd love to HEAR from you too! Talk to us in the comments, or send us a VN via email or socials: 🩸 What was your first period experience? 🩸 How have you tackled this topic with your sons and daughters"? 🩸 Comment 'FLOW' and we'll DM you a link to the episode. LET'S KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING AND FLOWING... 😏 [email protected] __ #periods #menstruation #menstruationmatters #periodpoverty #parentingpodcast #periodtalk __ This episode was produced as part of Podcasthon, the world's largest podcast charity initiative that brings international podcasters together each year for a cause of their choice. This year, our charity of choice is The MENstruation Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that fights period poverty and gives women dignity. Over the next six months The Great Equalizer will be donating R240/month to The MENstruation which sets up a total of 12 schoolgirls with all the sanitary support that they need for a year. This is such a small drop in the ocean of 7-million South African women who miss school university, sport and work for days at time every month, but in putting our money where our mouth is, we hope to inspire some of our listeners to join us in support of The MENstruation Foundation. Together, let's play a significant role in fighting period poverty across South Africa. __ 🖤 LISTEN 💛 LIKE 🖤 SHARE 💛 SUBSCRIBE And tell us what you think of the episode 🫶🏽 __ NB Links: https://podcasthon.org https://menstruation.foundation https://blushproof.co.za My Sexual Health Seminars: 🩸What Te enage Girls Should Know About Menstrual Sexual Health with Siv Ngesi and Dr Elna Rudolph: https://mysexualhealth.co.za/products/my-sexual-health-webinar-what-teenage-girls-should-know-about-menstrual-sexual-health-with-siv-ngesi-and-dr-elna-rudolph-sponsored-by-femagene?_pos=1&_psq=menstrua&_ss=e&_v=1.0 🩸 Revolutionising Period Health with Lara Briden and Dr Elna Rudolph: https://mysexualhealth.co.za/products/msh-webinar-revolutionising-period-health-with-lara-briden-and-dr-elna-rudolph?_pos=1&_psq=period&_ss=e&_v=1.0 Podcasthon · The MENstruation Foundation · Blushproof: Period Kits · What Teenage Girls Should Know About Menstrual Sexual Health with Siv Ngesi and Dr Elna Rudolph · Revolutionising Period Health with Lara Briden and Dr Elna Rudolph · Watch us on You Tube

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• Episode 102: TRADWIVES! and professional girlfriends (the #nojudgies deep dive)

  From Nara Smith to Ballerina Farm, social media goers worldwide have been captivated by #TradWives. This is a growing trend of women choosing homemaking and traditional gender roles rather than having a career or earning an income independent of their partners.But what does that economic dependence on men cost women?On this episode of The Great Equalizer, we take a deep dive into the world of #Tradwives, stay-at-home moms, and 'professional girlfriends', and we consider the potential impact of this trend on a woman's freedom.As always, we do our best to opt for a #nojudgies approach. We acknowledge that each woman is entitled to her own lifestyle approach. However, we also want to look at these issues holistically, and consider several facets that contribute to the matter in different ways.Some of these factors include the privilege of choice, equality in a household and personal preference. We also consider that gender-based violence is a scourge in South Africa, and might be dangerously perpetuated when a victim of GBV is at a physical, emotional and financial disadvantage.Are you a Tradwife, or a stay-at-home mom (bearing in mind that the two are not the same thing)? Have you dabbled in the world of professional girlfriends? We want to hear from you!#tunein #like #share #comment #subscribe And let's keep talking! News24 | A day in the life of a stay-at-home girlfriend · New Yorker | The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife · The Times | My day with the trad wife queen and what I really think of her · The Cut | Ballerina Farm Hannah Neeleman culture war response · Watch us on You Tube

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• BONUS | WE WERE PERFECT PARENTS! Until We Had Children with Vanessa Raphaely & Karin Schimke

  On this episode of TGE’s Current Read (and a special bonus episode of The Great Equalizer), two of the fiercest women in the publishing and parenting space – Vanessa Raphaely and Karin Schimke – join your hosts, Sam and Charlene, to talk about their book: We Were Perfect Parents Until We Had Children.Through combined effort, Vanessa and Karin gathered together several key experiences and insights from members of The Village – a 60k-member-strong Facebook group that offers support, wisdom and a shoulder to cry on for parents across South Africa. The group provided the gems and remedies that Vanessa and Karin drew on to draft the marrow of the book: Non-judgmental nuggets of wisdom from the real parenting experts – the parents who form The Village – gathered and bound to help readers raise their families in their own perfectly imperfect way.Vanessa chats with The Great Equalizer about the origins of The Village, Karin gets vulnerable about her own parenting journey, and we touch on the vast array of subjects that the book covers, including mental health, discipline, sex, gender, money matters, and self love.Parenting doesn't get easier, folks. It just challenges us in all new, different and scary ways. Luckily, we have each other – and this book – to guide us through the tough times.About the Authors:Vanessa Raphaely started her career on London’s Fleet Street before returning to SA to become the multi-award-winning editor of Cosmopolitan, and to run Associated Media. After 20 years, Vanessa left and launched The Village, a Facebook group 60 000 members strong, well known and much-loved among South African parents (which we will be talking about, at length, in just a bit).For years, author, editor and writing coach Karin Schimke was a parenting columnist for Femina magazine and a journalist who contributed regularly to Parent24. Karin is author the weekly ‘Love Letter’, which tracks her adventures in her post-parenting years. The Village | Facebook · Jonathan Ball Publishers | We Were Perfect Parents · Watch us on You Tube

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• Episode 101: HIV AWARENESS with author and philanthropist Nozibele Mayaba

  On this episode of The Great Equalizer: Sam has merit, Charlene’s perpetually hormonal, and we chat to author, content creator and philanthropist Nozibele Mayaba. Nozibele Mayaba has a long list of accolades: HIV activist, internationally recognised podcaster and TV host. She's partnered with Jacaranda FM and East Coast Radio to launch a youth podcast, Don’t Hold Back, Say It Loud, and she a TV show, #YesIHaveHIV on Honey, DSTV Channel 173, which has helped many to disclose their HIV statuses to loved. Nozi is also a MOM, and she chats to us about her motherhood journey, girlhood in South Africa, and her work as an HIV activist. ABOUT THE BOOK: Nozi's memoir Positively Me became an instant bestseller, reaching Number 1 on the South African charts in a matter of weeks. Born in Qgeberha in the 1990s, popular Aids activist Nozibele Mayaba’s upbringing was one of struggle and strife. She was raised by the tough hand of her mother in the confines of a strict Christian household. Nozibele strove to be the “good girl” that everyone adores to win her mother’s approval and the affection of her absent father. She lived by the book and was steered by her faith. Hers becomes a life of firsts. She is the first person in her family to travel overseas. The first to graduate from university. It is also her first love, with his infectious smile that infected her with HIV. This diagnosis throws her life into disarray. Fearing stigma and feeling the need to maintain her “good girl” image, she kept her status a secret. However, she soon succumbed to depression. It is in the aftermath, when she picks up the broken pieces of her life that she finds purpose in all the pain she has endured. She went public with her story in a video that when viral and launched her onto a new path. Nozibele, who has since gotten married and recently became a mother, has made it her mission to hold open conversations about her journey living with HIV. Told with gut wrenching honesty, Nozibele is at her most vulnerable in this brave account about what it means to live and love beyond HIV. Watch us on You Tube

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