Laila Mickelwait is a mom on a mission, her tireless work has resulted in the removal of tens of millions of illegal porn videos and she's still not done. Her inspiring story is one of a woman and a mother who was sick of the ineffectual action on sex abuse and so took matters into her own hands.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is one of the most highly decorated British Paralympians and truly worthy of the title of Difficult Women. She has spent her life knocking down barriers and fearlessly schooling anyone who dares stand in her way. Even from her earliest memories she has been advocating for not just her own life but for thousands of other disabled people who are routinely forgotten and pushed aside. Listen for an insight into this fascinating life.
This week's difficult woman is another member of British broadcasting royalty, Vanessa Feltz! With her signature blonde locks and no-nonsense charm, she’s been captivating audiences for decades, bringing a splash of sass and a whole lot of heat to the airwaves, always ready to tackle the juiciest topics with her trademark honesty. Of which she is certainly not lacking in this ripper of an episode!
This week's Difficult Woman is Donna Jones, the conservative police and crime commissioner for Hampshire, and the first female leader of Portsmouth City Council. This is a woman who knows how to get things done and makes no apologies whilst doing it.
This week's difficult women is the loud proud and utterly brilliant Miriam Cates. Now the former MP for Penistone and Stockbridge, Miriam rocketed into the public eye as one of the spearhead figures of the NatCon movement. She now focuses her efforts on education and pro-natalism
This week's Difficult Women is the ceiling smashing Margaret Casley-Hayford. A successful businesswoman and lawyer, Margaret has now got her sights set on bringing diversity to the board room. She now aspires to be not just the first black person but the first woman to hold the title of chancellor in nearly a thousand years of the universities history. **Warning - this show does contain descriptive language of a racist incident which some listeners may find offensive.
This week's difficult women is Kate Weinberg whose covid journey is as compelling as her writing. With a fierce determination to understand the mysterious fatigue that doctors couldn't explain, Kate embarked on a personal quest for a diagnosis that would empower her narrative and inform her creative work. Turned away time and again by doctors dismissing her illness, she was reminded of the very same doubts that her mother was subject to before her untimely death...
This week's difficult women is the Gardening Legend Bunny Guinness. You will be most familiar with Bunny's voice as a regular on Gardeners Question Time but her immersion within the horticultural world goes well beyond her broadcasting career. We delve into everything from her hitchhiking through Europe to the Great Peat Debate!
When she was 16, Natalie Fleet was raped. More than 30 years later, she will now use her role as a Labour MP to ensure that rapists have no rights to the products of their crime. Listen as she describes her incredible journey of resilience
This week's difficult woman is writer and podcaster Bibi Lynch. Owing to a combination of factors, Bibi has found herself childless and single in her late 50s - she's not had a boyfriend since Tony Blair was elected and she's come to the realisation that the world just isn't quite comfortable with a middle-aged childless woman. Listen as she talks through the personal reckoning that comes with such a realisation.
This week's Difficult Woman is Alice Hendy. In November of 2020, she received news that her only sibling had taken his own life. Alice found that he had been researching techniques to take his own life via harmful internet searches. To ensure more help and support is given to individuals searching for harmful content online, Alice set up Ripple Suicide Prevention. Listen as she talks us through that journey from tragedy to triumph.
“On Saturday 31st August, the IDF recovered the body of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. To many he was the recognisable face of the hostages kidnapped on October 7th. Earlier this year, we spoke to his mother. Listen back as the world mourns his loss”
This week's difficult woman is the brilliant author and journalist Eleanor Mills to discuss her new book, which dives into the challenges and triumphs of navigating life as a middle-aged woman. With her signature warmth and with, Eleanor shares her personal journey of grappling with societal beauty standards and the sexism that often comes with them. Listen as we explore the liberation that comes with embracing who you are, wrinkles and all.
This week's difficult women is Kat Brown, author, journalist, and guide to all things ADHD. Upon being diagnosed as an adult, Kat's whole life began to click into place. She has used this to try and help others to recontextualise their life in light of this new diagnosis. All of this goes without touching on her greatest love, Difficult Women alumni - Jilly Cooper!
This week's Difficult Women is Jennifer Ewing, wealth manager and proud republican living overseas, in the enemy territory! Given the ever present melodrama emanating from our western neighbour it felt appropriate to host an emergency American episode to find out exactly what it takes to be a difficult woman in the US. Listen as I press her on the Republican's decidedly anti-abortion stance...
The stalwart defender of women's rights, Harriet Wistrich, is this week's difficult woman. Responsible for keeping John Worboys locked up and the founder and director of the Centre for Women's Justice. Harriet has worked tirelessly for 25 years to advance and protect women's rights listen to her experience fighting the patriarchal mountain that is British law.
This week's difficult woman is probably more accurately described as difficult women! Lorraine Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Olivia Coleman, Ann Widdecombe AND Miss Piggy join me this week, all voiced by the wonderful Ronni Ancona. A long and storied career in comedy that is as fascinating as it is funny.
Ann Widdecombe is a titan of British politics. Wheather or not you agree with her, you cannot deny the monumental impact she has made on our political landscape over the past 35 years. Instrumental in bringing forth Brexit, Ann now works for the Reform party as once again she finds herself at the centre of political disruption.
A gala edition of Difficult Woman Live! with the author, influencer, glamazon, and daughter of one of the most fascinating families in Britain – the Sykes. Plum is descended from the grandest of Yorkshire grandees, Plum Sykes. Pack leader of the transatlantic glossy posse, working at Vogue both here and in New York and achieving international success with her first novel Bergdorf Blondes about blowdried airheaded Park Avenue Princesses, more novels, screenplays, marriage and children followed an...
Fresh off the back of her tenure at the head of John Lewis, Dame Sharon White is at a bit of a loss. With Ofcom and the Treasury on her CV, there is very little she can't turn her hand too. Listen to this surprisingly candid interview from one of the UK's most successful businesswomen.
If there is a man woman or child in showbiz that Rosemary Reed doesn't know, then they're not worth knowing! This producer/director is the mastermind behind some of the most insightful interviews of our generation. "The Power of Women" is her latest interview series, each episode pits two influential women in a room together and charges them to put the world to rights... Sounds like a good idea for a podcast I reckon...
"Go forth and be fabulous!" Strap in dear listener for our most raucous episode yet! The inimitable Kathy Lette is this weeks difficult woman, done with her flirty fifties and well into her sexties, Kathy's new book explores the discrimination women face as the age, and how to have fun regardless!
I don't have a single bad word to say about this weeks difficult women... not least because she may well be listening! Gillian Reynolds, the Doyenne of Radio, has been a radio critic for over 57 years and what she doesn't know about this industry ISNT WORTH KNOWING. A woman who is nearly older than radio itself has quite the insights into everything from podcasts to the age old rivalry of Nick Ferrari vs James O'Brien...
"We are frozen in a trauma that has now become our reality" This week's difficult woman may well be one of the strongest I have ever met. The terror attack of October 7th changed thousands of lives; Rachel Goldberg is one such life. Her son, Hersh, was kidnapped and remains a hostage inside Gaza to this day. Our conversation was a fascinating insight into the daily turmoil that she has to reckon with, holding on hope that she will maybe, one day, see her son again.
When something goes wrong, you don't take it lying down" This week's difficult women is Patsy Stevenson. She is a writer and campaigner who was catapulted into the public eye after being arrested at the vigil for Sarah Everard back in March 2021. The stark image of her arrest was splashed across every paper in the country and for many, it laid bare the oppression they had been facing in silence for years. She has now pivoted her life to champion women in STEM as the AI revolution comes upon us....
"He brought in a Psychiatrist to sedate me and handcuff me" From a Bareback Cossack to an abusive Russian Oligarch, Alexandra Tolstoy has lived one hell of a difficult life... Related to the great Russian author Leo Tolstoy, Alexandra has written of her many horseback adventures. She was also in a relationship with the Russian Oligarch known as 'Putin's Banker', with whom she has three children, though escaping his control proved to be her most difficult time yet...
This week’s difficult woman is Newsnight's star booker Sam McAlister. A working class girl who’s mixed with princes and paupers, Sam has always known how to get where she needs to be. The story behind THAT Prince Andrew interview has now been turned into a blockbuster Netflix film, listen as I interview the woman behind the SCOOP
"Men get away with it because women don't want to report it" This week's difficult woman is author, producer, and screenwriter Daisy Goodwin. The brilliant mind behind Grand Designs, Victoria, and Diva, Daisy's multi-format career is impressive to say the least. Though you may be more familiar with her as the defiant voice who exposed Tory Mayoral hopeful Daniel Korski and derailed his campaign. Listen as she tells EXACTLY what went on that day.
“People assume everything should be about making the adults comfortable and happy and forget about the extra risk that puts on children.” This weeks difficult women is Amanda Spielman. Former chief of Ofsted who stepped down at the end of last year amid the death of Ruth Perry. A death which has subsequently lead to a total overhaul of how we assess schools and the role Ofsted should play in that process. In her first interview since leaving the role, listen as we discuss the state of education ...
"The structure of marriage is a big part of maintaining the gender inequality between men and women" This week's difficult women is the Israeli leader of the opposition Merav Michaeli. Over her 12 years in Israeli politics, Merav has never struggled to make her voice heard. After recently deciding to stand down from her role as leader of the Labour party, we discussed her continued opposition to Netanyahu, a potential end to the war, and her decades long fight against the institution of marriage...
