When a brand like marie claire turns 30, you might expect champagne toasts, candlelit dinners and a nostalgic flick through old covers. But instead of looking back, the team is turning up the volume – literally. Enter You’re Gonna Want to Hear This, the brand-new podcast from marie claire, hosted by editor Georgie McCourt, launching with an exclusive conversation with none other than Jacinda Ardern, the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand.
It’s fun, frank and a little bit fabulous. “We didn’t want to mark thirty years quietly,” says McCourt. “Women’s voices deserve more space, more spotlight, more spark. This podcast is about making that space.”
You’re Gonna Want To Hear This Episode One
Not Just Another Celebrity Chat
You’re Gonna Want to Hear This isn’t your standard celebrity interview show. It’s smart, never stuffy; juicy, never clickbait-y. Each episode promises the kind of unfiltered honesty and emotional intelligence that has defined marie claire for three decades. The debut season lineup reads like a who’s who of women rewriting the rules – Rose Byrne, Leslie Bibb, Cindy Crawford, Celeste Barber, Rosie Batty, Asher Keddie – all sitting down to talk power, purpose and the private moments in between.
But for episode one, marie claire chose to start not with glamour, but with grace – and a global icon of empathetic leadership.
What Jacinda Ardern Taught Us About Strength
Having published her memoir A Different Kind of Power this year, Ardern speaks to McCourt with the warmth and candour that made her a political phenomenon. “Empathy is nothing without action,” she says. “Kindness and empathy are not devoid of consequence.”
It’s a line that sets the tone for an episode that moves between politics and motherhood, purpose and self-doubt. Ardern reflects on what it meant to lead a nation through crisis, to give birth while in office, and to finally walk away from power. “You don’t know what you’re capable of until you’re doing it,” she tells McCourt.
She’s open about the myth of “having it all”. “You can do those things,” she says of combining motherhood and leadership, “but there shouldn’t be an expectation you’re doing them on your own.” There’s humility too: “I don’t want anyone to believe I’m somehow Wonder Woman, because I wasn’t.” And vulnerability: “Self-doubt doesn’t make you less decisive. It can make you more prepared.”
Ardern also speaks about what she calls “the power of softness” – leading with empathy in hard spaces. “The choice to lead that way, when it’s not expected, is in itself an act of courage,” she says. And on confidence? “Even in the middle of crisis, I felt sure of what I needed to do. It’s not about being fearless – it’s about doing it anyway.”
For McCourt, it’s a conversation that captures everything You’re Gonna Want to Hear This stands for. “She’s so refreshingly real,” she says. “There’s something grounding about hearing one of the world’s most admired women talk about grocery shopping, couch-surfing in London, and still wanting to make a difference. It’s a reminder that leadership doesn’t have to look a certain way – and that softness can be a form of power.”
Marie Claire Celebrates 30 Years Of Style And Substance
The launch of You’re Gonna Want to Hear This comes after three decades of amplifying women’s stories in print and online, the brand is extending its reach into a medium built for intimacy and connection. “There’s something uniquely powerful about hearing women in their own words,” McCourt says. “Podcasts allow space for nuance, for laughter, for the messy middle. And that’s where the real stories live.”
Each episode is brought to life with the support of F5 Collective, a game-changing organisation funding and mentoring women-led brands – a partnership that feels fitting for a show dedicated to women rewriting the narrative.
Turn The Volume Up On Women’s Voices
If marie claire is the conversation starter you’ve always trusted, You’re Gonna Want to Hear This is the after-hours version – candid, warm, deeply human. It’s where women who’ve built empires talk about fear and failure. Where icons admit they still experience self-doubt. Where empathy isn’t a buzzword but a blueprint.
So plug in, press play and settle in. Because when a brand like marie claire turns thirty, we like to talk about it – and loudly.
Listen now: Episode one of You’re Gonna Want to Hear This is available via the iHeart app, marieclaire.com.au, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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