Clementine Ford's Big Sister Hotline
by Kind Regards Network
Welcome to Clementine Ford's Big Sister Hotline: the no-nonsense feminist advice line that doesn’t mince its words but always leads with love. Best-selling author, writer, and fearless feminist trailblazer Clementine Ford returns with her newly relaunched award-winning podcast, here to guide you through life's most tangled, uncomfortable moments with the kind of wisdom you may not want to hear but absolutely need to. Each week, Clem answers your calls, cutting through the noise with unapologetic clarity, raw honesty, and a resolute refusal to indulge in patriarchal bullshit. Whether it’s love, boundaries, breakups, body image, politics, sex, career, or finding your voice in a world that constantly tries to silence you, no topic is too taboo, no feeling too big, and no question too difficult. She’s the big sister you always deserved, the mum you never had, the aunty who listens without judgement, and the friend w
Episodes
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What Do I Do When My Husband’s Family Protects an Abuser?
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, Clem talks about what happens when someone you love tells you the truth about the abuse they’ve lived through, and that the family around them refuses to see it. Our listener has learned the full story of her sister-in-law’s marriage, and now she’s sitting…
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A Himalayan Check-In From Clem
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, a quick message recorded from a Sherpa village on the Everest Base Camp trail (yak bells and all). Clem sends a love note about choosing aliveness in small ways, invites you to think about the things you’ve told yourself you’re “too old” or “not capable” of -...
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Is Love Enough When Our Cultures and Futures Don’t Align?
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, Clem unpacks what it means to love across borders. Our listener is stretched between two countries, two cultures, and two futures - one dreaming of marriage and family, the other unsure where home is. Clem explores how inequality and expectation shape our...
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Am I Betraying My Marriage by Wanting to Kiss a Woman?
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, Clem explores the tender chaos of desire and identity. Our listener writes from the crossroads of marriage and a queer awakening - torn between devotion to her husband and the magnetic pull of a woman who stirs something long-buried. Clem unpacks what it means...
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How Do You Find the Energy to Smash the Patriarchy When the Patriarchy Smashes You?
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, Clem takes on the impossible weight of fighting patriarchy from within its walls. Our listener writes about a workplace battle that left her burned out, betrayed, and questioning everything she thought feminism promised. Clem explores the moral injury of doing...
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Should I Walk Away From My Addicted Ex, Even If It Feels Like Abandoning Her?
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, Clem unpacks the painful tension between love and self-protection when someone you care for is trapped in addiction. Our listener writes about her ex-partner’s struggle with alcoholism and bipolar disorder, and the guilt of stepping back. Clem explores how...
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BIG SISTER MEDITATION: On Loneliness and Belonging
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, Clem introduces a different kind of episode; a guided meditation. A gentle practice to help you sit with loneliness, reconnect with your breath, and meet your inner child with tenderness and love. Born out of a listener’s question about friendship and…
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Is It Worth Seeking an AuDHD Diagnosis if I’m Scared It Will Come Back Negative and Prove I’m a Shy, Lazy, Disorganised Weirdo?
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, we’re diving into the tender, complicated terrain of neurodivergence - from the anxiety of seeking an ADHD or autism diagnosis, to the lifelong stories we tell ourselves about being “lazy,” “disorganized,” or “too much.” Clem reflects on her own experience of...
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Should I Cut Ties With My Sister After Her Cruel Remarks, Even If It Means Losing My Niece?
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, Clem is delving into the raw terrain of family conflict; when the people we’re told to love unconditionally become the ones who wound us most deeply. Our listener writes of a painful rift with her sister, fractured by a series of cruel remarks, and the ache of...
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Do Protests Actually Influence Politicians or Create Meaningful Change?
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, we’re talking about protest; why it matters, what it achieves, and how it keeps us human in fractured times. From Gaza to the streets of Melbourne, protest is both a moral stand and a collective lifeline, reminding us that people power has always shaped…
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Should I Keep Trying to Reconnect With a Former Work Friend Who Hurt Me?
This week on the Big Sister Hotline, Clem unpacks the heartbreak of friendship. Those moments when trust dissolves into silence, workplaces become battlegrounds, or cherished connections fracture without explanation. The grief of a friendship ending can rival the sharpest romantic split, yet it’s…
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How Do I Rebuild My Self-Worth and Parent Confidently After Leaving an Abusive Relationship?
In this episode of Big Sister Hotline, Clem responds to a listener who has just left an emotionally abusive relationship and is navigating the challenges of co-parenting a young child. Clem talks about the courage it takes to leave, why emotional abuse and coercive control are real and damaging,...
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How Do You Make Real Friends in Your 50s When You Feel Lonely, Shy and Unsure Where to Start?
In this episode of Big Sister Hotline, Clem responds to a listener in her fifties who writes about feeling lonely and unsure how to make new friends. Clem talks about the importance of friendship at every age, how capitalism and ageism shape our connections, and why it’s normal for relationships…
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Should I Have Another Baby With My Ex?
This week on The Big Sister Hotline, we hear from a listener who is nearly 40, co-parenting with her ex, and longing for another baby. They still orbit each other - fighting, sleeping together, even going to kink workshops - but she knows how much the arrival of their first child strained their...
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How Do I Trust a Potential Sexual Partner With My Body When I've Been Humiliated & Exploited In The Past?
In the first episode of the newly relaunched Clementine Ford's Big Sister Hotline, Clem dives deep into a listener's struggle with intimacy, trust, and the emotional and physical scars we carry with us. Today's caller shares her painful experience of body-shaming, sexual humiliation, and abuse…
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Welcome (Back) to The Big Sister Hotline
Welcome to The Big Sister Hotline: the no-nonsense feminist advice line that doesn’t mince its words but always leads with love. Best-selling author, writer, and fearless feminist trailblazer Clementine Ford returns with her newly relaunched award-winning podcast, here to guide you through life's...
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And Just Like That, a special crossover episode
In this special crossover episode between Big Sister Hotline and Cherchez La Femme, lifelong friends Clementine Ford and Karen Pickering have a gasbag in Clem's kitchen. Topics covered: middle age and why it's powerful to embrace it; the first two episodes of And Just Like That and why revisiting...
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Big Sister Hotline: S02E14 Feat. LAURA NAGY
This week, I talk to filmmaker, podcaster and story doula, LAURA NAGY. Laura's most recent work is a podcast series on Audible. When Laura experienced a bad break up, she turned to the world of ASMR and 'partner experiences' to find comfort. What she didn't expect to encounter was her own healing...
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Big Sister Hotline: S02E13 Feat. KAREN PICKERING
CN: This episode contains discussion of sexual assault and rape, homicide and vigilantism. Hello there everyone! I've tinkered with the format of the show this week, quite by accident. However, it turns out I like the tinkering and I'm curious to know what you think about it. New format might…
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Big Sister Hotline: HOW WE LOVE EXCERPT
CN: This episode contains very fleeting references to body image, eating disorders and fatphobia. It is the recollections of a teenage girl. Welcome to a very special episode of the hotline! This week's episode features just me, reading an excerpt from my SO SOON TO BE RELEASED book, How We Love:...
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Big Sister Hotline: S02E11, Feat. LAUREN LATELY
Hello, and welcome to the Big Sister Hotline! We’re back this week with the wonderful LAUREN LATELY! Lauren is a public servant and book lover who lives in Canberra on Nunnawal Country, and she’s become prolific in the fight against health misinformation in a Covid era. Lauren and I talk here…
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Big Sister Hotline: S02E10, Feat. RACHEL MCPHAIL
CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains discussion of racism, colonisation, and reference to Aboriginal deaths from Covid. There is also a question that relate to stalking and threatening behaviour. Hello, and welcome to the Big Sister Hotline! I took a break last week because I was recording my…
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Big Sister Hotline: S2E9, Feat. YVES REES
CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains discussion of gender dysphoria, transphobia and a brief reference to eating disorders. Hello, and welcome to the Big Sister Hotline! We’re coming to you from Melbourne, home of lockdowns, riots and earthquakes! It is a very strange time to be alive!!! What has...
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Big Sister Hotline: AJA BARBER
Hello, and welcome BACK to the Big Sister Hotline! I’ve been on hiatus for a few months, partly because I was taking time off to finish my book (out on November 3!) and partly because of lockdown fatigue. But here we are, launching back into the hotline with enthusiasm and vitality! In this first...
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Introducing Everybody Knows
In November 2020, an Instagram account began to publish anonymous stories of harassment, abuse and assault in the Australian music industry.These were stories that journalist Ruby Jones had heard whispers about before. But when she started looking into them, she found that the allegations were…
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Big Sister Hotline: S2E7, Feat. Karen Pickering
CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains discussion of men’s violence against women, sexual assault, rape, historical allegations, and reference to suicide I’m joined this week by one of my friends and Hotline alum, the marvellous Karen Pickering! Karen is a feminist organiser, an author, host of the...
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Big Sister Hotline: S2E6, Feat. ADA CONROY
CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains discussion of men’s violence against women, domestic abuse, domestic homicide and men’s behavioural change In this week’s episode, my wonderful friend Ada Conroy welcomed me into her kitchen to discuss men’s behavioural change, domestic abuse, working in the...
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Big Sister Hotline: S2E5, Feat. CARA MACB
CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains discussion of fatphobia, eating disorders and disordered eating, sexual experiences involving men’s desires that may be triggering for some people Hurrah! This week’s episode features the amazing Cara MacB, creator of the brilliant “OBCC Helpline”. As Nanny…
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Big Sister Hotline: S2E4 Feat. KIRSTY RUTHERFORD
This week, I’m proud to welcome to the Hotline an incredible educator, anti-racism activist, mother and friend KIRSTY RUTHERFORD! Kirsty is a passionate anti racism activist who educates people daily on Instagram, and she joined me to talk about all these things. From little sisters, we answered...
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Big Sister Hotline: S2E3 Feat. APRIL HELENE HORTON
APRIL HELENE HORTON aka THE BODZILLA returns to the hotline for her second appearance! April has recently become the face of Curvy Swimwear, the first plus size bikini model to feature on a billboard in Australia. What a win! She joined me to talk about what young April would think of this…
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Big Sister Hotline: S2E2 Feat. KOA BECK
This week, I'm joined by KOA BECK, author of the incredible new book, "White Feminism". The book is a blistering examination of how white feminism aligns with capitalism, individual ambition and, ultimately, patriarchy in order to secure some version of liberation for the minority while ignoring...
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Big Sister Hotline: S2E1 Feat. LAURA BATES
Welcome to the very first episode of the hotline’s SECOND SEASON! My guest this week is the extraordinary Laura Bates. She’s a writer, activist and educator based in the UK, and her latest book “Men Who Hate Women” is a blistering take on misogyny and how it proliferates in men’s groups both…
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REPLAY! Big Sister Hotline, with SAYOMI ARIYAWANSA
Replaying this amazing episode from season 1, with human right lawyer and all round excellent person, SAYOMI ARIYAWANSA! We talk about Sayomi's work, migrant women and colonialism and answer questions from little sisters. Season 2 of Big Sister Hotline back on Jan 30! Follow Clem on Instagram &...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 45, Feat. IJEOMA OLUO
In this very special episode of the BSH, I'm joined by the incredible IEOMA OLUO. Ijeoma is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, "So You Want To Talk About Race?" In her latest book, "Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Power", Ijeoma explores white male medicority…
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 44, Feat. LOU SANZ
I'm joined this week in a special DOUBLE HEADER with one of my best friends, LOU SANZ. Lou is a filmmaker, screenwriter, creator and working mother living in Melbourne. In this episode, we talk creativity, mothering, the slow road to career success and how to be patient. . From little sisters, we...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 43, Feat. DANI ADRIANA
This week’s episode features the sensational DANI ADRIANA, a noted body positivity and fat liberation activist living in far North Queensland. Dani has toured workshops around the world speaking about mental health and fat liberation, and she joined me for a wonderfully insightful conversation...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 42, Feat. NEVO ZISIN
I was so pleased to welcome someone I admire enormously and am also proud to call friend onto the Hotline this week. NEVO ZISIN is a non-binary, Jewish queer writer who has authored two books (Finding Nevo and the forthcoming The Pronoun Lowdown). They facilitate educational workshops educating...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 41, Feat. JILL STARK
This week, I’m joined by my good friend JILL STARK to talk about anxiety, lockdown and some of the tools we can use to ground us when we’re feeling fizzy brained. Jill’s first book, “High Sobriety” was about the year she spent sober. She has since become sober again, and we talk about what this...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 40, Feat. ALEXANDRA COLLIER
I had an excellent conversation this week with ALEXANDRA COLLIER, a writer, theatre maker and sole mother by choice. Ally is one of the growing number of women choosing to become sole mothers through sperm donorship. She joined me to talk about motherhood, choices, the narratives we set for our…
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Big Sister Hotline: Bonus Episode Feat. TEDDY DUNN
Hello listeners! So, I was TWO HOURS into the edit on this week's planned episode with Alexandra Collier and Audition crashed and swallowed everything. This happens so frequently that I don't know why I continue bothering. I couldn't take it anymore, so I decided TO STOP TRYING. I am now...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 39, Feat. YVIE JONES
This week’s guest is no stranger to the limelight. YVIE JONES became a household name when she joined the cast of Gogglebox. She went on to feature in “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!”, ultimately placing second. She’s the co-host of feminist podcast “Chickstory”, which focuses on women...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 37, Feat. SAYOMI ARIYAWANSA
I’m so excited to introduce you to this week’s guest! SAYOMI ARIYAWANSA is a human rights lawyer and researcher looking at the circumstances of migrant workers in Australia. In this incredibly in depth chat, we talk about racism, migration, labour and classism and its particular impact on low…
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 36, Feat. ALYSSA HO
Hello everyone! Apologies for no episode last week - I took a much needed break. But we're back this week with the very excellent ALYSSA HO, who you may know from calling out beauty influencers online over their cultural appropriation via the "fox eye trend". Alyssa and I talk about this and much...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 35, Feat. PANDORA SYKES
How do we know we're doing it right? This is the question that plagues so many of us, particularly with the excessive influence of social media, the wellness industry, fashion and how we navigate interpersonal relationships in an increasingly plugged in world. These topics and more are all…
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 4, Feat. JAN FRAN
NOTE: Please note this episode contains discussion of controlled eating and significant weight loss in adolescenceI was joined this week by JAN FRAN, who's a legendary journalist, presenter and host of the popular The Frant. We had an excellent conversation about how women express control under…
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 33, Feat. KATE from THIRTYSOMETHINGSINGLE
If you're not following @thirtysomethingsingle on instagram, do yourselves a flavour and get on it. She is hilarious, insightful and brilliant, and she models excellent boundary setting in the dating world and via the apps. Kate posts a lot about self worth, decoding men's dating profiles and the...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 32, Feat. YASSMIN ABDEL-MAGIED
Australian listeners will all be familiar with Yassmin Abdel-Magied. A writer, TV presenter, podcast host, speaker and former race-car chassis designer (I mean, WOW), Yassmin also became a lightening rod for Australian racism, Islamophobia and misogyny when she posted a simple anti-war statement…
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Big Sister Hotline, Ep 31: Feat. AILEEN QUINN (PART 2)
*****Part two of the Hotline's episode with AILEEN QUINN comes with a very big content warning for domestic abuse, sexual coercion and manipulation.**** The Hotline received a question submission from a woman whose husband is behaving in a coercive manner and using manipulative tactics to try to...
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 30, Feat. AILEEN QUINN AKA TINDER TRANSLATORS
Hello friends and sisters! This week's episode is all about the hellscape that is online dating, and joining me to navigate it is guest big sister Aileen Quinn, aka the genius behind the instagram account Tinder Translators (@tindertranslators, follow her and do yourselves a flavour). We talk…
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Big Sister Hotline: Episode 29, Feat. GEMMA CAREY
Have you ever been cast in a particular role in your family? Are you the black sheep or the troublemaker, the wild child or the attention seeker? Do you seek your parents' approval, even though they continue to hurt you? Well, this episode is for you! But it's also for any one who has ever had a...
About this show
Welcome to Clementine Ford's Big Sister Hotline: the no-nonsense feminist advice line that doesn’t mince its words but always leads with love.
Best-selling author, writer, and fearless feminist trailblazer Clementine Ford returns with her newly relaunched award-winning podcast, here to guide you through life's most tangled, uncomfortable moments with the kind of wisdom you may not want to hear but absolutely need to.
Each week, Clem answers your calls, cutting through the noise with unapologetic clarity, raw honesty, and a resolute refusal to indulge in patriarchal bullshit. Whether it’s love, boundaries, breakups, body image, politics, sex, career, or finding your voice in a world that constantly tries to silence you, no topic is too taboo, no feeling too big, and no question too difficult.
She’s the big sister you always deserved, the mum you never had, the aunty who listens without judgement, and the friend w
Hosted by
Kind Regards Network