Lily Cole is a model, actor, filmmaker, entrepreneur, podcast host and environmental activist. She's written a book about the climate, offering solutions to global challenges. She now lives in Portugal but we speak to her from COP26 in Glasgow. We also speak to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg who sets the scene for us in Glasgow. We go back to Hasina Safi, who used to be Women's Minister in Afghanistan. Now she's a refugee in the UK, living in an hotel. We find out how things are for her and her fami...
Nov 01, 2021•58 min
The details of US President Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and the 1998 impeachment proceedings may be unfamiliar to some young women today. Impeachment: American Crime Story on BBC Two, aims to reframe the Clinton scandal from the perspective of the women it engulfed. Jessica Bennett from the New York Times and Sarah Baxter, former deputy editor of The Sunday Times discuss. The BBC Specialist Disinformation Reporter Marianna Spring who appeared in front of the Dig...
Oct 30, 2021•58 min
Monica Lewinsky is a name that most people will know. But for a whole new generation of women, including younger millennials who were children at the time, the details of US President Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and the 1998 impeachment proceedings it led to may be unfamiliar. Impeachment: American Crime Story on BBC Two, aims to reframe the Clinton scandal from the perspective of the women it engulfed. Jessica Creighton talks to Jessica Bennett from the New Yor...
Oct 29, 2021•58 min
Women in the military are suffering serious long term physical and mental health problems because of widespread bullying and sexual harassment. Research by the University of Oxford, King’s College London and the charity Combat Stress found over 20% were sexually harassed, over 5% were sexually assaulted and over 20% were emotionally bullied. Laura Hendrikx, is the author of the study which was published in the BMJ Military Health Journal. She and Chloe Tilley are joined by veteran Colonel Ali Br...
Oct 28, 2021•57 min
We talk to an Afghan family housed in one of the many hotels which have become home for thousands of others like them. Many families and children often struggle to exercise which has an impact on their physical and mental health. BBC producer Sue Mitchell a keen swimmer is working with them to enable them to be able to make use of hotel and local authority swimming pools to to help them while they wait for news about permanent accommodation, benefits and education. With COP26 being held in Glasg...
Oct 27, 2021•58 min
Budget 2021: What do you want to change? We hear from Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director of the Women’s Budget group, an independent not-for-profit organisation that monitors the impact of government policies on men and women When you look back over your past relationships do you see patterns? Whether it’s being drawn to bad boys, ending up with narcissists or falling for someone who needs looking after, it’s not unusual for us to end up in the same kind of toxic relationships again and again. So how...
Oct 26, 2021•58 min
Last week, a whole new set of climate-related phrases entered the Oxford English Dictionary including global heating, eco-anxiety and net zero. But despite being increasingly used in conversation, do people really know what terms like 'net zero' mean - and what is the general public willing to do to get us there? Prof Becky Willis from Lancaster University set up a research project called the Net Zero Diaries to try and find out. She talks about the latest results along with Pearl, who took part...
Oct 25, 2021•57 min
The former presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has a new book out, “State of Terror”, a political thriller written with the award winning author Louise Penny. The two women were already friends before deciding to pen the novel which features a President who “smells of meat” and appears to resemble Donald Trump and a British Prime Minister who’s “a twit” and seems to have a more than a passing resemblance to Boris Johnson. According to a new survey on mental wellbeing in agriculture, 58...
Oct 23, 2021•44 min
The former presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has a new book out, “State of Terror”, a political thriller written with the award winning author Louise Penny. The two women were already friends before deciding to pen the novel which features a President who “smells of meat” and appears to resemble Donald Trump and a British Prime Minister who’s “a twit” and seems to have a more than a passing resemblance to Boris Johnson. Anita Rani talks to the duo about their collaboration and some o...
Oct 22, 2021•58 min
Over the summer it's been tempting to think that the pandemic is almost over. But last night, Health Secretary Savid Javid insisted that "life is not back to normal". 49,000 people tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday - levels we haven't seen since the end of last year - and he warned that they could hit 100,000 a day over winter. But despite all this, the government has decided not to implement its so-called Plan B - which would include mandatory mask wearing, working from home and vaccine pa...
Oct 21, 2021•57 min
Former Scottish Conservative leader – the recently ennobled Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links - will be giving her maiden speech in the House of Lords on Friday as part of a debate on assisted dying. She used to be against amending the law on assisted dying but had a change of heart last year. She explains why to Emma. The Home Secretary Priti Patel has requested an urgent update from the police following a spate of recent cases where women's drinks have been spiked. With multiple reports also e...
Oct 20, 2021•58 min
In our final discussion to mark our 75th anniversary we look at the issue of equal pay. This was identified as the area women most want to see change in their daily lives and 70% of those asked said they had experienced inequality in this area. Emma Barnett talks to Baroness Kishwer Falkner who’s head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission which regulates the Equality Act and also to Emma Satyamurti a lawyer leading a group action for equal pay by female staff working in Morrisons. Dame Eil...
Oct 19, 2021•56 min
According to a new survey on mental wellbeing in agriculture, 58% of women in farming experience anxiety compared to 44% of men. What's the reason behind it? How much impact has Brexit and the pandemic had on the problem? We discuss with Alicia Chivers, Chief Executive of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, and East Yorkshire pig farmer Kate Moore. Conservative MP Sir David Ames, who was killed on Friday had been in Parliament since 1983 . Issues raised by the people he represented we...
Oct 18, 2021•58 min
Cush Jumbo, star of The Good Wife and The Good Fight on her latest role playing Hamlet. Predatory marriage involves a vulnerable adult being led into a marriage, which financially benefits their new spouse. We hear from Daphne Franks, who believes that her mother was a victim of a predatory marriage. Your responses to our poll on equality in 2021. What's it like for tall women when it comes to dating? Comedian Andrea Hubert, and Sarah Ivens, author of Get Real discuss. In her new book Rough, Rac...
Oct 16, 2021•45 min
The average height of a female in the UK is 5ft 3in. What is life like for women at the other end of the spectrum, especially when it comes to dating? Jessica Creighton is joined by the author of Get Real, Sarah Ivens, who at 6ft would be introduced to dates as 'Queen Kong' or 'Miss Stretchy', and married at 6 ft 3 in in a pair of diamanté heels; and Andrea Hubert, 6ft 1in whose creative comebacks about her height paved the way to her becoming a comedian. Normally it would take a playwright like...
Oct 15, 2021•57 min
Sophie Ellis-Bextor has seven albums, five children, a podcast and her Live Kitchen Discos during lockdown were a means of virtual escapism for many, and became weekly moments of united sequined catharsis. She joins Emma to discuss her memoir Spinning Plates: Music, Men, Motherhood and Me. Claudia Webbe, a former Labour MP for Leicester East, who now sits as an independent, was found yesterday guilty of one charge of harassment and is awaiting sentencing. She has vowed to remain an MP while she ...
Oct 14, 2021•58 min
Who does what in your home? Sourcing school shoes? Calling the plumber? Sorting the threadworms? In her debut novel 'Are We Having Fun Yet?' author and columnist Lucy Mangan reveals the comic diary of Liz who is 'outwardly mute, inwardly mutinous' as she does her best to keep the domestic show on the road. In her new book Rough, Rachel Thompson looks at how violence has found its way into the bedroom. A study released this summer set out to gauge the extent of violence against women. One shockin...
Oct 13, 2021•57 min
Radio DJ Emma Wilson believes that the policeman Wayne Couzens who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard exposed himself to her in an alleyway some 13 years ago. Emma reported it to the police at the time – no action was taken, but she has decided to speak out now because when she did report it she was not happy with the response. One of the key findings of our equality poll to mark our 75th anniversary has been the extent to which women don’t feel equal when it comes to issues of sexual a...
Oct 12, 2021•58 min
To mark our 75th anniversary last week we commissioned a poll to explore how you feel about equality in 2021 and how much progress you believe women have made since the first episode of Woman’s Hour was broadcast in 1949 Over two thirds of the women we spoke to said it was down to experiences of sexual exploitation and abuse while three while three quarters put it down to inequality within their homes because of the unfair division of housework.. What your reality? At the heart of our Poll the g...
Oct 11, 2021•58 min
Baroness Brenda Hale is a former judge who served as the first female president of the Supreme Court. She has written a book, Spider Woman, that spans her life and work. We hear from Professor Anita Hill who thirty years ago faced an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee—led by the then, Senator Joe Biden—to testify that her boss, Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, had sexually harassed her. It was a landmark moment for these issues and inspired countless women to come forwa...
Oct 09, 2021•55 min
Over the last few years, the figures around celibacy have generally been on the rise - particular amongst young women. What’s to be gained from making this life choice? And what should one know before deciding to become celibate? Anita speaks to sex therapist Danielle Bennett, and two women who have experience with celibacy. Laura Kennedy is in her 30’s and was celibate for six years. Shirley Yanez is in her 60s and became celibate as part of a conscious change in lifestyle. Chinaza Onyechi has ...
Oct 08, 2021•57 min
Our specially commissioned poll to celebrate Woman’s Hour at 75 looks at women and equality in the UK today. It finds the place that women feel the most unequal is in the home, at work in terms of pay and benefits and in terms of safety due to their experience of sexual exploitation and abuse. Emma Barnett talks about the issues raised with our panel including the author Jeanette Winterson, the commentator Inaya Floarin Iman and the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project Laura Bates. Joan Diana ...
Oct 07, 2021•58 min
Mina Smallman, the mother of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, the sisters who were murdered in a North London park last year, speaks to us about her grief and women's safety. She also talks about wanting to reach out to Sarah Everard’s mother because of the particular type of grief they share. She also reminds us of the type of people her daughters were. We get the latest from the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester with the BBC's Political Correspondent, Chris Mason. We hear from Paulin...
Oct 06, 2021•58 min
We hear from Professor Anita Hill who thirty years ago faced an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee—led by the then, Senator Joe Biden—to testify that her boss, Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, had sexually harassed her. It was a landmark moment for these issues and inspired countless women to come forward with their stories, to file complaints, and even to run for office; creating an unintentional trail blazer. Now an advocate, educator and author she talks to Emma Barn...
Oct 05, 2021•58 min
Is the Police institutionally misogynistic? It's the question that's been raised now that a police WhatsApp group has come to light which Wayne Couzens was part of. It contained offensive messages. We also know that another police officer called PC David Carrick has been charged with rape. Plus there have been reports of 26 Metropolitan police officers committing sex crimes since 2016. Janet Hills, who's just retired as the Chair of the Metropolitan Black Police Association joins us to discuss, ...
Oct 04, 2021•58 min
Zoe Billingham, one of the top inspectors at Her Majesty’s of Constabulary, and Dame Vera Baird, the Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales on the reaction to further details about Sarah Everard's murder and the subsequent life prison sentence handed down to the former Met Police officer Wayne Couzens. Intergenational friendships, how is it different from being friends with someone your own age? Best friends 60 year old Sue and 33 year old Emily discuss. The actor Lashana Lynch on making Bo...
Oct 02, 2021•57 min
Are you in an intergenerational friendship? Anita speaks to Emily who’s 33 and her best friend Sue who’s 60 about the unique benefits of friendships across the ages. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has admitted that trust in the police force has been "shaken" by the murder of Sarah Everard. So where do we go from here? And what support is there for the bereaved families who have lost loved ones to male violence? Anita speaks to Dame Vera, the Victims' Commissioner for England ...
Oct 01, 2021•58 min
Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens was sentenced today. The court heard that Sarah Everard was handcuffed by her murderer - a Metropolitan Police officer - as he pretended to arrest her for breaching Covid guidelines, as she walked home from a friend's house in Clapham on 3 March. Couzens showed his warrant card before restraining her and putting her in his hire car and driving away. Emma gets reaction from listener and journalist Kat Brown, and reads from Sarah's mother Susan Everard's victim...
Sep 30, 2021•58 min
As if one new play opening wasn’t enough pressure Olivier award-winning playwright, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, has two this month. ‘Typical Girls’, set in a women’s prison, opened this week at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and tomorrow ‘Mum’ begins previewing at the Theatre Royal Plymouth. A psychological thriller, ‘Mum’ explores the pressures and complex emotions many women experience when they have a baby. She joins Emma. As the Labour party leader, Sir Keir Starmer gears up for his first in-p...
Sep 29, 2021•58 min
The former CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi was one of the only women, and women of colour, leading a Fortune 500 company. She discusses the challenges facing female leaders and whether women can "have it all". The American singer R Kelly is facing a life sentence after being found guilty of multiple offences related to the sexual abuse of women and children. We hear from Jacqueline Springer, a black music journalist and university lecturer about the case that’s being called a landmark moment for bla...
Sep 28, 2021•58 min
