A Podcast of One's Own with Julia Gillard

Sherele Moody is an award-winning journalist, anti-violence campaigner and founder of the RED HEART Movement and Australian Femicide Watch. For more than a decade, Sherele has tirelessly documented every woman and child who has been violently killed in Australia, telling their stories to ensure they are remembered for who they were, not defined by how they died or reduced to a headline or statistic.

For Sherele, this work is deeply personal. As a young woman, she discovered that her stepfather had murdered two girls: five-year-old Sandra Dorothy Bacon and nine-year-old Stacey-Ann Tracy. Although she never met them, their stories profoundly shaped her life and work.

In this deeply moving conversation, Sherele tells Julia about her childhood, the devastating truth she learned about her stepfather and how it led her into a life of journalism and activism. They discuss the RED HEART Movement, Sherele's work with families, the importance of remembering victims beyond the circumstances of their deaths, and what must change to create a safer future for women and children.

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of childhood abuse, sexual violence, domestic and family violence, and the murder of women and children. Please take care while listening.

If anything raised in this conversation affects you, or you’re concerned about someone you know, you can contact 1800RESPECT 24 hours a day by calling 1800 737 732, texting 0458 737 732 or visiting https://1800respect.org.au/. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call Triple Zero.

Show notes

There are a number of different ways you can learn more about Sherele's work and how you can support it:

Learn more about Sherele’s work and the RED HEART Movement here: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/
Support this work by donating here: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/support/
Shop RED HEART merchandise, with proceeds supporting Sherele’s work: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/shop-2/
Find other ways to take action here: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/take-action/
Listen to Sherele’s She Matters podcast here: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/podcast/
And learn about the campaign for a Femicide Royal Commission and sign the petition here: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/campaigns/femicide-royal-commission/
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In this extra special crossover episode, Julia is joined by Sophie Gee, co-host of The Secret Life of Books podcast, for a joyful conversation celebrating their shared love of books and reading.

Julia and Sophie compare notes on hosting book podcasts, share their lifelong love of literature, and reflect on their experiences chairing two of the world's leading literary prizes for women and non-binary writers – the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Stella Prize.

Sophie is a Professor of English at Princeton University, author of The Scandal of the Season, Chair of the 2026 Stella Prize judging panel and of course, hosts The Secret Life of Books, alongside her co-host, Jonty Claypole.

Show notes

If you enjoyed this conversation, you can find The Secret Life of Books, hosted by Sophie Gee and Jonty Claypole, wherever you get your podcasts.

Julia and Sophie reflect on this year's Women's Prize for Fiction and Stella Prize, celebrating outstanding books by women and non-binary writers. You can explore the 2026 Stella Prize shortlist here: https://stella.org.au/the-stella-prize-2026-shortlist/ and find out more about the Women's Prize for Fiction here: https://womensprize.com/.

They also discuss this year's winning titles: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction, and Cannon by Lee Lai, the first graphic novel to win the Stella Prize. Find out more about The Correspondent here: https://womensprize.com/library/the-correspondent/ and Cannon here: https://stella.org.au/the-stella-prize-2026-winner/.

The episode also explores the future of reading in the age of AI, including trends in reading for pleasure in Australia. You can read more in Creative Australia's latest National Arts Participation Survey here: https://australiareads.org.au/news/naps-2025/.
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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.

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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/

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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

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