Show Notes
This week on It Is What It Is, things get very real. Aisling, known to her 140k plus followers as the girl who never entertainsnegativity, finally speaks about something she has stayed silent on for a long time.After becoming the subject of a major discussion on Tattle Life, she felt she had nochoice but to address it. She opens up about how damaging these forums can be,the rumours that were circulating, and how it actually feels to see your namepicked apart online. Katie shares her perspective on how harsh and damning these spaces can be forthis generation. As someone nearing 40, she admits she finds the fake pages andanonymous discussions hard to process, and questions how a teenager isexpected to cope with that level of scrutiny. The conversation goes deeper into the psychology behind fake accounts onTikTok, why people feel the need to hide in order to criticise or tear someonedown, and what that says about online culture today.Most importantly, Katie and Aisling offer honest advice on how to navigate beingtalked about online, how to protect your mental health, and how to stay groundedwhen your name is being discussed by strangers. It is open, reflective, uncomfortable at times, but necessary.
More from IT IS WHAT IT IS!
Aisling and Katie are finally back in studio together, and there’s a LOT to catch up on! This week, they’re talking mean girls. Why do some people go from cheering you on to tearing you down? They chat about celebrating each other’s wins, the sting when that support disappears, and why grown women can still bring playground behaviour into adult friendships. Aisling also opens up about her daughter expecting a baby boy and how she feels about becoming a nana. And after everything the last few weeks have brought, both women reflect on finding a place of sheer and utter peace, feeling happy in themselves and caring a little less about what everyone else thinks. An honest catch-up full of big feelings, big life changes and plenty to say.
This week, you asked and we delivered. The one and only Joanne Duffy joins Katie and Aisling in studio, and Katie has them locked in and ready to answer the questions nobody has asked before. Joanne takes us right back to her first video and suddenly finding herself exposed to the world of social media. She opens up about dealing with negativity, why she actually finds pages like Tat Life hilarious and even admits she follows them herself. But behind all the laughs, we get to know a different side of Joanne. She shares stories from her childhood, life before meeting Thomas and how she was always the minder, the cook and the one looking after everyone. She talks about what she wants from the future and why, above everything else, family will always come first. Plus, could there be a night out with YOU on the way? The girls chat about plans for a listener night to celebrate the launch of Aisling’s brand. Hilarious, honest and probably not the Joanne Duffy interview you were expecting.
Content warning: This episode contains open conversations around depression, mental health struggles, alcohol and medication that some listeners may find difficult or triggering. This week, Limerick man Brian Hayes from What’s The Story joins us for an incredibly open conversation about hitting the depths of mental health struggles and finding his way back. Brian shares how depression affected every part of his life, from struggling to even string a sentence together and masking how he felt with alcohol and medication, to periods where he says he spent three weeks of the month asleep. Looking back now, he reflects on just how much that time took from him, including what he describes as losing two years of his daughter’s life. Katie and Brian open up about the signs they experienced that they can now recognise as depression, while Aisling shares how she first met Brian and Brian reveals the impact she had on him during a particularly difficult time in 2022. Today, Brian uses the voice he once struggled to find through his What’s The Story pages, positivity and his work helping charities across Limerick. He admits helping others became almost addictive because making someone else feel good made him feel good too. A raw conversation about losing yourself, recognising the signs and discovering that your darkest chapter does not have to be your last.
Katie and Aisling are back in the studio together ahead of Katie heading off to Ibiza. This week, Aisling decides she wants to sit in the driver’s seat, where Katie normally takes charge. She has plenty of questions she wants to ask Katie, and absolutely nothing is off limits. This episode takes it right back to basics with plenty of laughs, unexpected truths and the kind of honest conversation that happens when it is just the two girls in the studio. From getting personal to discovering that Aisling is living a champagne lifestyle on a Coca Cola budget, this is one you will not want to miss.
Body Image Expert Aoife O’Brien: Why You’re Never Happy With What You See This week on It Is What It Is, Katie is joined by body image expert Aoife O’Brien, who brings both professional expertise and her own powerful lived experience to the conversation. Together they explore why so many of us have become focused on fixing our bodies instead of understanding the root of why we’re unhappy with them in the first place. Aoife breaks down body dysmorphia, emotional eating, binge eating, restriction and the cycle of swinging between them, while sharing her own experience of struggling with body image. Katie also opens up about her relationship with her body, allowing Aoife to unpack where some of those feelings may have started. If you’ve ever changed your body but still weren’t happy with the person looking back at you, this episode is for you.