Finding out your father is a serial killer, and living with the consequences. Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women from the US and Australia who share this unusual experience, and asks why they both decided to speak publicly about it. Jenn Carson is a teacher in California and the daughter of Michael 'Bear' Carson, who committed three murders in the US between 1981 and 1983, alongside his second wife Suzan. Jenn was told about her father's crimes when she was nine years old, and says the dis...
Dec 18, 2017•27 min
Two librarians running vastly different libraries in South Africa and the United States share their passion for books and their secrets for inspiring children to read. Carla Hayden runs the biggest library in the world, the Library of Congress. As the first woman and first African American to take on the role she made history when she was nominated by former President Barack Obama. Carla now oversees the library's extensive collection of books, manuscripts and historical artefacts, which include...
Dec 04, 2017•28 min
What exactly is the role of the first lady? It's an unofficial position, that comes with enormous expectations, and some obvious pitfalls. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to the First Lady of Namibia, Monica Geingos, and the former First Lady of Iceland, Jonina Leosdottir. Monica Geingos is a lawyer and businesswoman who married Hage Geingob in 2015, shortly before he became President of Namibia. Monica has continued with many of her previous responsibilities, but she seeks to complement her husband's wor...
Nov 27, 2017•27 min
What happens when women try to hammer out a peace deal? How does it differ from the way men do it? According to the United Nations, fewer than 3% of signatories to peace agreements are women. We meet two women who hope to change that. They made history in Northern Ireland and in Colombia by bringing the gender issue to the forefront of the peace process. Monica McWilliams is a Northern Irish peace negotiator who played a key role in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which brought an end to the ...
Nov 20, 2017•27 min
Opening a bank account and praying in peace - just two things blind women cannot take for granted in Ethiopia and India. Kim Chakanetsa has a revealing conversation with two women who are taking on these challenges and more. Yetnebersh Nigussie recently won the Right Livelihood Prize - widely referred to as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' - for her work promoting disabled people's rights in her country. Yetnebersh is a lawyer born and raised in rural Ethiopia who lost her eye sight at the age of f...
Nov 13, 2017•27 min
A Syrian architect who watched her city destroyed around her talks to an Irish architect who helped create community spaces in a migrant camp. They emphasize the importance of authenticity, simplicity and boundaries when it comes to designing buildings and public spaces. Marwa al-Sabouni runs an architectural practice together with her husband in the Syrian city of Homs. She has watched her city be torn apart by war, and believes communities are directly shaped by the environment they inhabit. S...
Nov 06, 2017•27 min
The joy of coming together through song - Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who have created choirs that go beyond simply making music. Mika Danny started the Rana Choir in 2008, with a clear mission to unite Arab and Jewish women in song. Mika lives in Jaffa in Israel and says that while women from Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities find it almost impossible to discuss what they call 'the situation' there, they have been able to come together 'as a family' through singing a repertoire tha...
Oct 30, 2017•27 min
Pushing the limits in the name of science: Two women who have lived and worked in some of the most extreme conditions on earth talk to Kim Chakanetsa about the challenges of cold and dry conditions, the bonds they form on base, and what draws them back to these remote places. Carolyn Graves is a Canadian meteorologist currently working for the British Antarctic Survey. In 2016 she travelled to the Halley Research Station in Antarctica. She was planning to spend a whole year there, carrying out m...
Oct 23, 2017•27 min
Top female casting directors in the UK and India chat to Kim Chakanetsa about fighting for the actors they want in a film, their proudest casting moments, and the painful job of telling someone they didn't get the part. Nina Gold is the woman behind the casting of the HBO series Game of Thrones and the new Star Wars films. She has also cast Oscar-winning movies such as The King's Speech and The Theory of Everything as well as countless TV drama series in the UK and US. She says she loves to unea...
Oct 16, 2017•27 min
Women who ink and get inked talk to Faranak Amidi about why they were drawn to the world of tattooing, how they developed their signature styles, and why getting a tattoo of your partner's name is a big no-no! Claudia de Sabe is an Italian tattoo artist, who works at Seven Doors Tattoo in London. She got into the culture as a teenager when she was listening to punk music and hardcore bands. Her first tattoos were on her ankles and she says she still likes being able to hide them away discreetly....
Oct 09, 2017•27 min
Leftover food, animal dung and an invasive water weed - Faranak Amidi talks to two female entrepreneurs in Nigeria and the US who have found profitable uses for stuff that no-one else wants. Pashon Murray is the founder of Detroit Dirt, a company that collects food waste from businesses and animal dung from the zoo and mixes them together into rich compost, or 'black gold'. Inspired by her grandfather's connection to the land, and determined to reduce landfill and promote sustainability, Pashon ...
Oct 02, 2017•27 min
Two former politicians reveal the realities of life in public office. They talk to Kim Chakanetsa about why they went into politics, what impact they had and why a thick skin is absolutely critical. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian economist who served two terms as finance minister of Nigeria from 2003 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2015, having previously been a managing director at the World Bank. But holding political office was never part of her plan. Instead she was appointed to the role by t...
Sep 25, 2017•27 min
The ancient art of falconry holds a magical appeal for our guests this week. They talk to Kim Chakanetsa about why they were drawn to this ancient tradition, the unique relationship they form with their birds, and the concerns of those who consider it cruel. Helen Macdonald from the UK is the bestselling author of H is for Hawk, a moving account of the year she spent training Mabel the goshawk after her father's death. As a child Helen was obsessed by birds of prey and was determined to become a...
Sep 18, 2017•27 min
Legendary gymnasts Simone Biles and Nadia Comaneci get together with Kim Chakanetsa for a frank discussion of the highs and lows of their sport. At the Montreal Olympics in 1976, aged just 14, Nadia Comaneci became the first gymnast in history to be awarded a perfect 10 for her routine on the uneven bars. Nadia went on to win 25 medals during her gymnastic career, including five Olympic gold medals. Originally from Romania, Nadia defected to the US in 1989 and now runs a gymnastics school in Okl...
Sep 11, 2017•27 min
Running an international charity in today's changing world is the task taken on by our two guests, who talk to Kim Chakanetsa about how their organisations are adjusting to the changing demands of those in need. Winnie Byanyima is Executive Director of Oxfam International, which works to alleviate global poverty. Born in Uganda, Winnie has been a trailblazer and an activist from the beginning - as a student protester she was forced to flee the country at the age of 17. Later, she became a parlia...
Sep 04, 2017•27 min
Being in charge of Huffpost and The Guardian - Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women who are re-shaping their international news publications. Lydia Polgreen is Global Editor in Chief of HuffPost. She took over from founder Ariana Huffington in 2016, after spending 15 years at the New York Times, where she had postings across Africa and Asia. The child of an Ethiopian mother and an American father, Lydia was raised in neither country, growing up mainly in Kenya and Ghana. She says moving arou...
Aug 28, 2017•27 min
Two women who run museums that document the lives and legacies of iconic figures of twentieth century history: Anne Frank and Nelson Mandela. Garance Reus-Deelder is Managing Director of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, which welcomes 1.3 million visitors every year and faces numerous challenges due to the cramped nature of the space. Garance herself was born in the Netherlands but grew up in Zambia, where she remembers visiting memorials rather than museums. She first went into business befor...
Aug 21, 2017•27 min
Spectacular volcanic eruptions on earth and in space - Kim Chakanetsa unites two women who share a deep love of volcanoes. Janine Krippner is from New Zealand, and as a child visited Ngauruhoe - the volcano made famous as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings films - and had an intense feeling that this is where she belonged. Years later she found herself inside the crater collecting research data. Janine is now based at the University of Pittsburgh and studies remote volcanoes in Russia and the U...
Aug 14, 2017•27 min
Two doctors at the epicentre of the AIDS crisis - Glenda Gray and Wafaa El-Sadr - have worked tirelessly to care for those affected by the virus, to combat its spread, and to get the drugs to those who need it. Glenda Gray is a South African paediatrician and world-renowned scientist who currently directs the HIV Vaccine Trials study, which is the largest of its kind ever conducted in South Africa. Thanks in part to her work on mother-to-child transmission, the number of babies born with HIV has...
Aug 07, 2017•27 min
Cities that come alive at night, with two women who know where to go and what to do. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to a DJ from Lebanon and a singer-songwriter from China who take her on a virtual tour of their favourite nightlife scenes. Nicole Moudaber is a Nigerian-born Lebanese DJ and music producer. Nicole began exploring Beirut's nightlife as a promoter, hosting successful club nights for years before turning her hands to the decks. She has since been described as one of the best techno DJs on the...
Jul 31, 2017•27 min
Two archaeologists take us on an underwater adventure to uncover secrets about our past. Between them they've explored wooden vessels dating back hundreds of years, discovered Roman statues in the Mediterranean and Chinese ceramics in the Gulf of Thailand, and even stumbled upon what may be an Aboriginal rubbish dump. Pornnatcha 'Jo' Sankhaprasit is Thailand's first ever female underwater archaeologist. She grew up in the Thai mountains and didn't even see the sea until she was nine years old. S...
Jul 24, 2017•27 min
Anoushka Shankar on sitar and Kasiva Mutua on drums...two celebrated female musicians talk to Kim Chakanetsa about their paths to mastering instruments more traditionally played by men. Anoushka Shankar's father, the legendary Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar taught her to play the instrument from the age of 9. She first performed in public with her father at 13 and got a recording contract as soon as she finished school. She says growing up surrounded by music actually meant she had a complicat...
Jul 17, 2017•27 min
Forget the wicked witch or the pretty princess - a new generation of women in animation are doing away with cartoon cliches. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women doing their bit to ensure that female characters are accurately drawn from life, rather than stereotypes. Niki Yang grew up in South Korea visiting comic book rooms and watching Japanese anime on TV - which helped her realise her passion for drawing and storytelling. Niki established her own career in animation when she moved to Los Angele...
Jul 10, 2017•27 min
Calculator tricks and baking cakes - how two female mathematicians help people have fun with maths. Eugenia Cheng's aim is to rid the world of 'math phobia' and she uses baking to explain complex mathematical ideas to the general public, via her books and YouTube channel. For instance, she makes puff pastry to reveal how exponential growth works. Eugenia has taught Pure Mathematics at universities in the UK, France and US and is currently Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute...
Jul 03, 2017•27 min
Growing up with a name that has resonance around the world - and a father with a towering reputation. That's been the experience of Samia Nkrumah and Noo Saro-Wiwa. We'll hear about the pride and burdens they carry with them, and how their fathers' untimely deaths have shaped their lives. Samia Nkrumah is the daughter of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah - the man who led his country to independence in 1957, and became an international symbol of freedom as the leader of the first African co...
Jun 26, 2017•27 min
What draws women to motorbikes, whether it's weaving them through traffic or seeing the world from one? Kim Chakanetsa asks two women from Poland and Kenya who spend their lives in the saddle. Aleksandra 'Ola' Trzaskowska's love of motorbikes is not about the machine itself - it's about the thrill of seeing new places from the best vantage point. She used to be a lawyer in Warsaw but gave it up to do what she loves. Ola now runs tours on two wheels to Asia, North Africa and both American contine...
Jun 19, 2017•27 min
The power of art to change lives. Two women talk to Kim Chakanetsa about how they use art to enable refugees, asylum seekers and young women to find their creative voice. Isha Fofana is a Gambian artist who set up an art centre in her country to encourage young women to pursue their artistic talents. Although she showed an interest in art at a young age, she was not fully able to explore it until she was much older. Her canvasses are often large and extremely colourful, capturing the joy and pow...
Jun 12, 2017•27 min
Prayers and preparation for the apocalypse - two women share with Kim Chakanetsa their experiences of life in strict religious communities they would call cults. Natacha Tormey was born into an international evangelical group and led a highly regimented life in communes in Thailand, Indonesia and France. She says physical discipline and sexual abuse were common, and as children they were separated from their parents. As a teenager she began to question the ideas of the leaders, and at 18 she lef...
Jun 05, 2017•27 min
What's life like when women are in charge? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who've formed close ties with matriarchal communities in China and India, and who've gone onto document their experiences. Choo Waihong is a former high-flying lawyer from Singapore who quit her job to move to a remote part of China to live with the Mosuo tribe. This is one of the last matrilineal and matriarchal societies on earth. That means that the family descends from the female bloodline, and that women also hold ...
May 29, 2017•27 min
'I will ride cancer; cancer will not ride me'. An Indian dancer and a Jamaican athlete who were diagnosed with breast cancer at the peak of their physical condition tell Kim Chakanetsa how they got through their treatment by focussing on their passions. Novlene Williams-Mills is an exceptional Jamaican sprinter who has competed - and won medals - in four Olympic Games. In 2012, just before the London Olympics, she found out she had breast cancer. Despite the diagnosis, she decided to compete, an...
May 22, 2017•27 min
