An increasing number of women have become addicted to gambling in recent years, and experts fear the current cost of living crisis could put even more women at risk. Sandra Adell is a professor of literature in the Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author of a memoir, Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen, and she is currently working on a book about the impact of gambling on underprivileged communities in the US called And Then The Casinos Came...
Nov 21, 2022•28 min
What role are women playing in providing solar power and ensuring that vulnerable communities have access to cheaper and cleaner energy? Kim Chakanetsa talks to an electrical engineer working in the US and Nicaragua, and a Nigerian entrepreneur. Anna Bautista is vice president of construction at GRID Alternatives, a large non-profit solar company that works with low-income communities across America and in Nicaragua. Her career as an electrical engineer started in the private sector where she wo...
Nov 14, 2022•28 min
Kim Chakanetsa discusses the wonders of the sky with two world-renowned astronomers. Dr Ewine van Dishoeck is a Dutch astronomer and chemist who has been involved with the development of the James Webb Telescope, the largest optical telescope in space. A professor of molecular astrophysics at the University of Leiden, her work in researching the potential existence of water in space could help find answers to the biggest questions, including whether life is possible on other planets. Dr Catherin...
Nov 07, 2022•28 min
After lockdowns, gig cancelations and a long and painful period for those in the industry, this year has seen the return of a full festival season around the world and millions of people have been making the most of it partying and dancing in vast crowds to live music and DJ-sets. Beatriz de la Pava is joined by two female DJ/producers from Denmark and Colombia to talk about creating a sound and vibe that brings thousands of people to dance as one. Rosa Pistola is hard to miss. Hailing from Colo...
Oct 31, 2022•27 min
There are many reasons people cut back on travelling once they have children - the cost for one, and the extra luggage! Beatriz de la Pava talks to women from Lithuania and the United States about bringing children along for a life of travelling adventures. Sunshine Abou Bakar describes herself as ‘an ochre obsessed mom of two’ who blogs and updates her social media followers about sustainable journeys under the name of African Boheme. Her moto is ‘Children are going to throw tantrums no matter ...
Oct 24, 2022•28 min
Nearly half of the world’s population lives in an area that faces water scarcity for at least a month every year and one in three people globally do not have access to safe drinking water. Today we meet two women who are working on solutions to cope with droughts. Jimena Puyana is a sustainable development programme specialist with the UNDP Country Office in Colombia. She works on implementing nature and community-based solutions to fight climate change in La Mojana, a region with one of the mos...
Oct 18, 2022•28 min
Throughout history, women have been fearlessly taking up arms and waging war, but the stories of female fighters tend to be forgotten. That is changing, with more female warriors taking centre stage in films and TV series. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women committed to bringing these stories into the limelight. Cathy Schulman is an Academy award winning producer, showrunner and screenwriter. She’s one of the producers of The Woman King, starring another Oscar winner, actor Viola Davis, and direc...
Oct 10, 2022•27 min
Despite being more likely to be concerned about climate change women are less likely than men to buy an electric car, or to say that they plan to. But they could be key to driving growth in the industry. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to women from US and India about driving change and innovation in electric vehicles. Linda Zhang is the chief engineer responsible for leading the team delivering an all-electric version of Ford’s F-150 pickup truck, the best-selling pick-up truck in the world. Linda was bo...
Oct 03, 2022•28 min
Climate change is having a devastating impact on the North and the South Pole – melting glaciers and endangering the local wildlife. Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who are monitoring these changes closely. Hilde Fålun Strøm is an explorer and citizen scientist based in Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost town in the Norwegian arctic. Hilde and her expedition partner, Sunniva Sorby, run Hearts in the Ice, a project raising awareness about climate change. In 2020 they became the first women-onl...
Sep 26, 2022•28 min
Fake news can have harmful consequences for those who believe it - but why are women often the target of disinformation campaigns? Kim Chakanetsa meets two experts to discuss how disinformation affect the lives of women around the world. Paulina Ibarra is the Executive Director of Fundación Multitudes, a civil society organization based in Chile. She leads The Women’s Observatory Against Disinformation and Fake News, a project supporting women and members of underrepresented communities who deci...
Sep 18, 2022•26 min
Flamenco is a complex Spanish artform that includes music, singing and dancing. People often associate it with expressive female dancers - but what role do women actually play in flamenco? Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros is a Spanish-Serbian-American dancer, sociologist and dance historian. Her family is of Roma origins and her mother taught her how to dance flamenco at a very young age. Rosa is a team member of the dance and Flamenco sections for the RomArchive, an international digital collection pr...
Sep 12, 2022•26 min
It’s the third annual International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on Wednesday 7 September. It’s aimed at raising public awareness at all levels of the urgent need to improve air quality. Air pollution is the largest contributor to the burden of disease from the environment, and is one of the main avoidable causes of death and disease globally – killing seven million people a year according to the World Health Organisation. Kim Chakanetsa talks to women from the UK and India who are calling on...
Sep 05, 2022•28 min
Have you ever had your heart broken? It can feel all-consuming and unbearable at points, and cause us physical pain. But why is this the case and how can we overcome it? Kim Chakanetsa finds out the answers from two women who are well versed in matters of the heart. Dr Lucy Brown is an American neuroscientist and clinical professor in Neurology at Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and she’s one of the first people ever to study the neuroscience of romantic love. Lucy is one of the co-cre...
Aug 29, 2022•29 min
Most of us rely on farmers to produce our food and rising costs for farmers are leading to spiralling food prices. It's in part down to huge increases in the cost of fuel and fertiliser, shortages of labour and the pressures of a changing climate. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women farmers from Australia and the UK about their love for the land, the responsibility of running a family farm and how they deal with the pressure. Katrina Sasse is an Australian cereal farmer and 2017 Nuffield Australia...
Aug 22, 2022•27 min
Women play a crucial role in peace building processes around the world, but their role is rarely recognised. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who build bridges between communities at war with each other. Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer led the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. In 2014 she made history by becoming the first woman chief negotiator to sign a major peace accord with an armed group. She taught political science at the Univer...
Aug 15, 2022•28 min
According to the United Nations, at the end of 2021, 89.4 million people around the world had been forced to flee their homes as a result of persecution, conflict, human rights violations or other events. Among them are nearly 27.1 million refugees. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women from Afghanistan and Zimbabwe about having to leave their country. Hajira Zaman is 29 years old and left Afghanistan in November 2021. She’d been working in a dentist’s clinic when the Taliban entered the clinic and ...
Aug 08, 2022•28 min
When doubt creeps in about the faith you’ve grown up in and nobody will tolerate your questions, when you look at your life ahead mapped out by others and wonder where your ambitions fit - how do you step away? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women from Tanzania and Scotland about leaving their religion. Zara Kay grew up in Tanzania in a strict Muslim family. She faced disapproval when she chose not to wear a hijab, for moving abroad to study, and for her career as an IT engineer. But the abuse she ...
Aug 01, 2022•28 min
What would you do if a loved one went missing? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women whose lives have been touched by a missing person’s case, and now help other families find answers. Dr Chung Pham is an anti-trafficking specialist from Vietnam. When she was a teenager, she stopped the initial abduction of a schoolmate, who was later trafficked into China. After relocating to the UK, Chung became an advocate for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, often victims of trafficking or modern slavery. ...
Jul 25, 2022•28 min
Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who bring electricity to communities in the US and New Zealand. Maureen Miller is a listener from Wisconsin in the US who got in touch to tell us why she is so passionate about being a journeyman lineman. She talks about bringing power to communities devastated by hurricanes and floods and she tells us about the skills required to do this extremely dangerous work. Laisa Pickering-Bryant is the first female distribution line mechanic at her company to work on live h...
Jul 18, 2022•28 min
Why are friends who are always there for you so important? Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who’ve put friendships at the heart of their work to make hugely successful TV series. Marta Kauffman is a TV executive producer and co-creator of Friends and Grace and Frankie. Her ground-breaking shows, which have friendships at their core, have revolutionised the world of TV series and have broken taboos. Nicole Amarteifio is a Ghanaian film director and screenwriter. She’s best known for her show An Afr...
Jul 11, 2022•27 min
Two women confronting the dangers of plastic pollution talk to Kim Chakanetsa. They’re sounding the alarm and working on innovative solutions: from an island clear-up that collected 750,000 empty plastic bottles to reducing microplastics in the air and waterways. Estrela Matilde lives on the island of Príncipe off the coast of West Africa – where her work to reduce plastic pollution has helped increase the number of turtle nests by more than 40 percent to 2,500 over six years. Estrela is a Whitl...
Jul 04, 2022•28 min
There is no known cure for type 1 diabetes. Usually diagnosed in childhood, people’s experiences differ considerably depending on where they live and their access to adequate treatment and care. Without them, complications can arise which in the most severe cases result in death. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women from Brazil and Australia to see how their experiences with the chronic condition compare. Janina Gaudin, from New Zealand, is an illustrator of comics about life with Type 1 Diabetes....
Jun 27, 2022•28 min
Many people are scared of insects, reptiles and rodents and certainly wouldn't choose to work with them. Not today's guests. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women working in pest control about their passion for the job and the ingenuity and adaptability of some household pests. Patricia Page's father was reluctant to let his daughter join the family business. He didn't think rat catching was a job for women. But when the factory in Northern Ireland she worked at closed down he relented and she too b...
Jun 23, 2022•28 min
Alcoholism is a global health issue which each year results in millions of deaths. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women to discuss the realities of addiction and compare their different paths to sobriety. Danijela Kovac from Canada gave up alcohol nearly 12 years ago. Years into sobriety, Danijela became frustrated at the lack of choice for non-alcoholic beverages for adults and created her own non-alcoholic wine company, Teetotaler Wines. Desiree-Anne Martin from South Africa is a recovering addi...
Jun 13, 2022•28 min
Many of us as children dream of finding a treasure map and digging up gold and precious jewels. For some that longing never goes away. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women from the UK and Canada who spend their free time using metal detectors to search for treasure. In November 2021, a British nurse called Elizabeth Bailey discovered a tiny gold book while out with her metal detector. She first thought it was from a charm bracelet but, engraved with two figures thought to be the patron saints of ch...
Jun 06, 2022•28 min
Can a book change a young woman’s life? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women in the publishing world about the importance of writing stories that inspire and empower girls. Nnedi Okorafor is an award-winning Nigerian-American writer of fantasy and science fiction for both children and adults. Her books have strong female leads and draw inspiration from her Nigerian roots. Nnedi has also written comics for Marvel: she was the first woman to write the character of T'challa, the Black Panther, and she...
May 30, 2022•28 min
Collectives offer opportunities for like-minded individuals to unite over a common goal, approaching issues with a shared vision and democratic mindset. They can range in size from just a handful of people to thousands, and they have the ability to disrupt the status quo and be vessels for remarkable change. But what’s it like to start one? Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women who have founded female collectives making a difference. Aya Chebbi is a Tunisian diplomat and a pan-African and feminist ...
May 23, 2022•28 min
Kim Chakanetsa meets two genealogists passionate about uncovering the forgotten stories of their clients' female ancestors. Kenyatta D Berry is a lawyer and genealogist from the USA. She is the author of The Family Tree Toolkit and the co-host of The Genealogy Roadshow on PBS. She caught the genealogy bug by chance, when she started looking into her ex-boyfriend’s family history. She is an expert on African American ancestry and on the specific challenges people who descend from enslaved individ...
May 16, 2022•28 min
From the first moving drawings that appeared on screens back in the 1930s to the highly imaginative, emotionally resonant filmmaking of today – animation has come a long way. It is no longer considered a pleasant cinematic distraction for kids. In fact, some of the boldest, most creative and slyly subversive filmmaking can be found in animation. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women responsible for bringing animated characters to life. María Cecilia Botero is an actor from Colombia whose career spa...
May 09, 2022•27 min
What's it like being adopted into a country far away from your birth and into a family that looks very different to you? International and transracial adoptions both come with challenges for children and parents. Beatriz de la Pava talks to two women born in Colombia and South Korea about trying to fit in and discovering more about their roots. Janine Vance was adopted from Seoul by an American couple along with her twin sister when they were six months old. A trip to South Korea in 2004 to an e...
May 02, 2022•32 min
