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Dirty Mother Pukka with Anna Whitehouse artwork

Dirty Mother Pukka with Anna Whitehouse

Heart·Hosted by Anna Whitehouse and Polly Hazlewood·266 episodes

KidsFamilyParentingCo-host chemistryUK parentingFrank conversationsGuest interviewsQuickie episodesFeminist

For people who happen to be parents. The feminist podcast to make you laugh as much as you cry, learn as much as you unlearn with a whole lot of no-holds-barred chat thrown in for good measure. Whether parent or non-parent, guy or gal, c’mon get down and dirty. Listen and subscribe now on Global Player. For advertising opportunities on this podcast email: [email protected]

Why listen

Dirty Mother Pukka is frank, funny parent-life talk from Anna Whitehouse and Polly Hazlewood, mixing confessional co-host chat with guest conversations about motherhood, sex, work, friendship, grief, money, and midlife. It is for listeners who want parenting discussed without the glossy filter, with enough humour to make heavy topics feel survivable.

Episodes

27 min
Oct 24, 2024
Anna Whitehouse on baby news and maternity leave

It’s an extra special episode where we meet the newest member of the Dirty Mother Pukka family as Polly chats to Anna for the first time since baby Lola arrives and maternity leave begins.

30 min
Oct 22, 2024
Quickie: Do you have ADHD?

Anna and Polly are joined by Jess Joy and Charlotte Mia co-authors of How Not to Fit In: An Unapologetic Guide to Autism and ADHD. They delve into everything from masking, diagnosis relief and grief plus the difficulties with official diagnosis.

30 min
Oct 17, 2024
Anna Whitehouse and Polly Hazlewood high - and low - lights

As the pair hit the West-End in their first Live Nation show, Anna and Polly talk sex ed, pleasure and why it’s time to stop centering the peen. Oh and how platonic love has to be up there with romantic amour. Til death, indeed…

17 min
Oct 15, 2024
Quickie: Such a weird job

Anna and Polly share their wildest job experiences. From welding car parts to making weed-infused perfume, their unconventional careers unravel and they chat about how motherhood impacts it all.

52 min
Oct 10, 2024
Danielle Harel & Celeste Hirschman on sex post-baby and orgasms

Anna and Polly take a deep dive deep into the world of post-childbirth sex, orgasmic birth (yes, that’s a thing), and vibrators (Polly is never without hers). Joined by the brilliant minds behind the Somatica Institute, Danielle Harel and Celeste Hirschman. www.somaticainstitute.com & learnsomatica.com

15 min
Oct 8, 2024
Quickie: Kemi said WHAT?

As Tory MP Kemi Badenoch describes maternity pay as ‘excessive’, Anna and Polly dig deep into a system set up for mothers and parents to fail.

50 min
Oct 3, 2024
Claire Hall on ageism in fashion and 40s styling

Anna and Polly have reached the point in styling where wipe-clean and comfortable are key. But stylist ?Claire Hall lands on the podcast to shake up their wardrobes and say a few choice words to an ageist fashion industry.

13 min
Oct 1, 2024
Quickie: Let us be your fantasy

With our new resident sexologist Polly Hazlewood in the building, the duo talk fantasies and how important they are in your relationship. Strap in for the ride team.

39 min
Sep 26, 2024
Polly Hazlewood on arguing with Anna and how to repair

In this episode Anna and Polly open up about the rupture and repair of their friendship. Driven by numerous people saying they were ‘friendship goals’, the pair set the record straight on the reality of such a solid union and dig deep on the way they argue, rupture and repair. Love isn’t about always getting on. And it’s not about always agreeing. But the love is real and that’s because of the above.

12 min
Sep 24, 2024
Quickie: You’ve stopped laughing

Somewhere between the pandemic and extreme childcare costs, we stopped laughing. There’s a guilt in feeling joy in a cost of living crisis; An anxiety in laughing when the world is seemingly crumbling. Anna and Polly try to force a smile and question the importance of laughter and how to get it back.

46 min
Sep 19, 2024
Susannah Constantine on drinking through the breakup of Trinny and Susannah

The What Not To Wear star wears her heart on her sleeve as she opens up about her alcoholism and, in turn, sobriety. She describes the breakup of Trinny and Susannah like a divorce and this episode opens up about the normalisation of parental drinking. From ‘Mummy needs wine’ to ‘gin o’clock’.

9 min
Sep 17, 2024
Quickie: Gender reveal!

As Anna sits down with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to talk free school meals, she is asked if it’s a boy or girl. Listen in for an emotional chat about the two-year-old scheme and what the gender of Anna’s baby is!

35 min
Sep 12, 2024
Anna Whitehouse on baby shower stress and the third trimester

From struggling to ‘celebrate’ until the baby first cries to birth anxiety in the third trimester, Polly sits in the pregnancy hole with Anna as they navigate baby showers and splash down.

19 min
Sep 10, 2024
Quickie: The anxiety is real

Whether pregnancy anxiety or just sudden dread before bed, we are an anxious nation with panic attacks on the rise. Anna and Polly talk about their most anxious moments. The why and the resolution. It’s an anxiety-inducing white-knuckle ride.

55 min
Sep 5, 2024
Zoe Blaskey on the domestic load and maternity discrimination

From the domestic load to maternity discrimination, Zoe Blaskey opens up on how fooked over mothers are at home and work. And comes to the DMP table with empathy as well as solutions.

11 min
Sep 3, 2024
Quickie: You are invited…

It’s happening. Our first Live Nation show. And you are invited to a night that will make you laugh as much as you cry in the West End’s Duchess Theatre. This is the office party you always hoped for without the misogyny and cold sausage rolls.

52 min
Aug 29, 2024
Natalie Cassidy on school holiday stress and mum guilt

The maths ain’t mathing. How to cover the six weeks of summer holidays with a wonky childcare system, overpriced summer camps and inflexible working. The Eastenders actress talks about keeping it together under pressure and how to keep the love alive with her partner among it all.

24 min
Aug 26, 2024
Quickie: The great sexodus

As childcare stress ramps up, exhaustion levels are at an all time high, parents are just not doing it. The average child-ravaged couple gets down and dirty once a month and Polly and Anna look into how to get back on the horse.

47 min
Aug 22, 2024
Shakira Akabusi on postnatal OCD and getting help

How many times have you heard someone say “I’m so OCD” sweepingly in relation to being a little tidy. So misunderstood, Shakira opens up about how OCD changed her postnatal journey and how she took a turn for the better.

18 min
Aug 20, 2024
Quickie: Toxic friendship?

So you’ve been friends for decades but can’t remember the last time you felt good around that person. From friends who use you as a personal therapist to those who take, take, take and find fault at every turn, some friendships just aren’t, really, that friendly at all. From when to get out and how to get out. To making peace with people dramatically stepping away, this is the great friendship detox.

31 min
Aug 15, 2024
Anna Whitehouse on sleep deprivation and sheer exhaustion

Polly and Anna dig deep on their lack of z’s. From an average two hours on Polly’s side to pregnancy insomnia on Anna’s, the pair find solutions to their snoozing issues. And open up about the intense expectations put on mothers in the newborn haze.

14 min
Aug 13, 2024
Quickie: Just so moody

Whether the weight of the world, pregnancy hormones, PMT or menopausal symptoms, the pendulum of moodiness is hard to navigate. For both partners. Anna and Polly analyse their moods in an attempt to sort the wood from the hormonal trees.

46 min
Aug 8, 2024
Laura Jackson on keeping up appearances and maternal loneliness

In this episode Laura downloads to Polly and Anna her need for connection in a world that feels disconnected. Whether under her roof, over a roast dinner or fleetingly in a park, she opens up about leaning in at a time when everyone feels far apart.

14 min
Aug 6, 2024
Quickie: It doesn’t work

Childcare in the summer holidays is a nightmare. We have roughly 25 days of holiday and there’s 62 days to cover. The maths just doesn’t work. Listen in for solutions to the childcare issues.

43 min
Aug 1, 2024
Hollie McNish on knackered vaginas and frenzied masturbation

No postnatal stone is left unturned on this open-hearted, open-minded chat about life, love and sex postpartum. From knowing when to do it after having a baby to touching yourself in the name of orgasms, Hollie is 100% a woman’s woman.

15 min
Jul 30, 2024
Quickie: Yes I'm fat

God the commentary around our bodies is real. From pregnancy-related weight gain to stress-related weight loss, maybe ask how someone is before discussing how they look.

45 min
Jul 25, 2024
Rachel Stevens on finding the strength to leave and blending families.

A pop icon and new author, Rachel of S Club 7 acclaim opens up her heart on the podcast talking about separation, telling the kids and finding happiness with her Dancing on Ice partner Brendan. This episode covers everything from judgement around separation to separation anxiety and how to handle it whether your partner simply works away or you are co-parenting.

26 min
Jul 23, 2024
Quickie: Stop talking over us

Public speaker Dani Wallace joins the DMP team to talk about raising her voice after being ignored in the corporate world. This is the nuts and bolts of being heard without changing who you are.

41 min
Jul 18, 2024
Anna Whitehouse on having a ‘midlife crisis’ or a midlife opportunity?

When it comes to divorce or even a career change mid-life, the words ‘crisis’ and ‘car crash’ land almost instantly. Anna and Polly dig into what they know at 43 over 23 and how making big life decisions at this juncture isn’t always a cry for help, more about newfound knowledge.

13 min
Jul 16, 2024
Quickie: This is personal

After a few intense weeks of internet scrutiny around Anna’s geriatric pregnancy and the apparent ‘speed’ of moving on with her new partner, the DMP duo take a moment to reflect on where it all began. Why the podcast began and land some big news on where things are going. Expect the usual analysis of sex positions and an incident involving a clitoris and chili.

52 min
Jul 11, 2024
Sarah Beeny on raising teens and empty nest syndrome

The property aficionado lands on DMP to talk raising teenage boys, the good, the bad and the ugly of your kids growing into adults - and how to navigate tech in a parental world that doesn’t really have blueprint other than hollering ‘get off your phone’. An informative chat with a beautiful soul.

12 min
Jul 9, 2024
Quickie: Let’s talk about sex

From doggy to missionary, what else do you do when you, well, do it? Anna and Polly delve into the Karma Sutra and analyse the pros and cons of going off piste. Expect tears of laughter and genuine fear.

51 min
Jul 4, 2024
Melanie Dimmitt on actual inclusion and why we are all ableist

This is Polly’s moment to open up about a different mothering journey with the author of ‘Special’ Melanie Dimmitt. It’s a beautiful insight into a different parental route that is often misunderstood or misrepresented. In this episode team DMP ask what ableism really is. How it presents. And what you can do as a parent to be more inclusive.

15 min
Jul 2, 2024
Quickie: Lingerie? Nah mate

Anna is not a fan of lacy grundies but Polly is on a drive to get women to feel their best. Whether in a lace body suit or her homemade crotchless panties. The pair delve into their underwear drawers to see what’s lurking. And to be honest it ain’t pretty.

42 min
Jun 27, 2024
Anna Whitehouse on pregnancy at 43 and geriatric motherhood

It’s been a rollercoaster of a loving ride but an incredibly happy one with Anna and Olly announcing their pregnancy. With four kids between them already this is a fifth happy member of the clan. Anna stares down the barrel of being a truly ‘geriatric’ mother and how she feels navigating pregnancy third time round. But the main point is… we’re having a baby! A DMP baby.

19 min
Jun 25, 2024
Quickie: Stop with the FemFresh

Why are women sold vaginal/ vulva-cleaning products and men aren’t? There’s no willy washes out there or pecker towelettes and, yet, women are marketed everything from FemFresh to fanny wipes because men think we need it? Anna and Polly delve into delicate PH balances and BV to level the playing ground.

1 hr
Jun 20, 2024
Paloma Faith on the invisible load and redefining ‘MILF’

The incredibly successful singer-songwriter digs deep on inequality in the home and how co-parenting is never really 50:50. She opens up about separation and dating post-divorce and how she’s finally settled on loving herself first and foremost before even swiping left of right. If you want to laugh as much as you cry, this episode is a good ‘un.

18 min
Jun 18, 2024
Quickie: My kid has a phone

The day has come, Anna’s eldest has a phone and there’s been a lot of chat in the school What’s App group about how to navigate this juncture. It’s uncharted territory and it is world’s apart from when Anna and Polly were ten but the pair talk about how to navigate this brave, new, pixelated world.

33 min
Jun 13, 2024
Dr Jen Gunter on hot flushes, brain fog and tackling the menopause

As the peri-menopause hits, Anna and Polly ask Dr Jen about what to expect when you are expecting… The Change. From periods to pregnancy and the menopause, this is an A-Z on tackling Mother Nature’s biggest hormonal shifts.

15 min
Jun 11, 2024
Quickie: Come to our wedding…

From ridiculous lists with £1,000 vases to unending hen dos and stag dos that soak up the cash, is a white wedding really all that for the guests? And does Pinterest have a lot to answer for?

50 min
Jun 6, 2024
Beth Ashley on slut shaming and how to raise a sex positive kid

This episode packed a sex ed punch. Sex and relationships journalist Beth digs deep on the slut shaming she faced as a young girl and what parents need to watch out for. We unpick the controversial decisions happening around sex ed for under 9’s and how to raise a sex positive kid.

19 min
Jun 4, 2024
Quickie: Don’t say this

Have you ever had well-meaning but awful advice landed on you? By a mother in law maybe or a mate even? This episode goes into the nitty gritty of what not to say to a mother. Especially new mothers.

43 min
May 30, 2024
Anna Whitehouse on getting engaged and love post-divorce

Quite the episode. We interrupt usual service of interviewing incredible women for a DMP special on Anna’s engagement to Olly. From love post-divorce to looking back at one of the toughest junctures of her life, this is maybe not the Disney happily ever after but it is, indeed, very happy.

16 min
May 28, 2024
Quickie: Are you perimenopausal?

As hot flushes land and brain fog descends, Anna and Polly question their symptoms and open-up about navigating the next biological female chapter. Pre-warning: there’s a lot of justified, although slightly off-the-wall rage.

49 min
May 23, 2024
Dr Sophie Bostock on sleep, insomnia and how to get more z’s

Whether newborn exhaustion or pure insomnia, Dr Sophie explains the impact of sleeplessness on our minds, bodies and parental souls. From sleep disorders to effective sleep routines, this is 45 minutes of sleepiness in podcast form.

14 min
May 21, 2024
Quickie: Dead Pets Society

Shouldn’t laugh but this week your stories on how your kid’s pets came to an end is something else. From fish jumping into toasters to sinister Siamese cats unravelling your parental mind, this is one of the darkest, funniest chats to date.

46 min
May 16, 2024
Karen Guggenheim on happiness, glimmers over triggers and navigating grief

The CEO of The World Happiness Index certainly knows a thing or two about finding joy. In this open-hearted chat Anna and Polly ask Karen how she started smiling again against the grieving odds. Funny, sad, uplifting and ultimately a happy ending.

14 min
May 14, 2024
Quickie: The hamster died

Pets and grief is quite the juggernaut to navigate with kids. Anna has to handle the death for the family pet hamster Ziggy. Is lying ever ok to protect your kids? How do you navigate a rodent funeral? And was buying two guinea pigs really a good idea in the wake of all this? Expect tea-through-nose laughter and solemnity. A tale of two sides.

42 min
May 9, 2024
Polly Hazlewood on ADHD, the symptoms and getting help

You asked for it and we’re giving it. You wanted more of us - Polly and Anna - so here we delve into Pol’s ADHD diagnosis in an emotional, informative rollercoaster of a podcast episode that leaves no ADHD stone unturned. While Polly isn’t an expert, she’s read The Whole Internet since being diagnosed and this could be an initial stepping stone if you wonder if you - or your child - might have ADHD.

13 min
May 7, 2024
Quickie: Too old for clubbing?

Following a stat that it’s cringe to be in a club over 40, Polly and Anna recount their clubbing days and question if they really are too old to get down with the kids…