How domestic workers in the Middle East are using the video sharing app TikTok to raise awareness of abuse. Louise Donovan from the Fuller Project tells us how she found these women and why they are turning to TikTok. Dodie has just released her debut album Build A Problem. At just 26 she has already made a name for herself as a singer and a writer amassing millions of fans through her Youtube Channel with her intimate singing style and honest unflinching videos. She joins Emma to play a song fr...
May 10, 2021•42 min
Tracey Emin was one of the leading figures of the Young British Artists movement of the 1990s. She has recently undergone radical surgery to treat bladder cancer. For her latest exhibition - The Loneliness of the Soul – she has selected masterpieces by Edvard Munch to show alongside her most recent paintings. Mental health blogger and author of ‘F**K I Think I'm Dying: How I learned to live with panic’, Claire Eastham explains how she manages her panic attacks. She is joined by psychotherapist D...
May 08, 2021•57 min
India remains in the grip of a Covid crisis with record numbers of cases being reported every day. Oxygen and vaccines are running out and hospitals are overwhelmed. Save The Children has warned it could be facing thousands of additional deaths among children under five and an increase in maternal deaths, as hospitals and clinics are directing most of its staff and medicines to coping with Covid-19 patients. We hear from Dr Rajesh Khanna about the work he is doing to help women and children acce...
May 07, 2021•44 min
In 2016 Mia Ayliffe Chung was killed at a remote farmworkers’ hostel while backpacking in Australia. What she didn’t realise at the time and what her mum Rosie Ayliffe later discovered was backpackers like Mia were exposed to widespread exploitation including sexual harassment, inadequate health and safety and substandard living conditions. Since Mia's death Rosie has been campaigning to improve conditions for young casual workers, helping to change the law in three of the six states of Australi...
May 06, 2021•44 min
Tracey Emin was one of the leading figures of the Young British Artists movement of the 1990s. Hers is a uniquely provocative, confessional style which confronts issues such as trauma of abortion, rape, alcoholism and sexual history. Her famous artworks include: Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 and she came to greater prominence in 1999 with a Turner Prize nomination for her famous piece My Bed. One of her most powerful works is a hand-crafted quilt called Psycho Slut, with texts that r...
May 05, 2021•44 min
Fertility rates around the world are declining. It's partly through choice, as couples decide to have smaller families. But it's also the case that sperm levels among men in Western countries have halved in the past 40 years. . So what's going on? Shanna Swan, a Professor of Environmental Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York thinks we should be paying much more attention to the chemicals in our environment that come from everyday products - as her research is showing consistent effects on sperm c...
May 04, 2021•43 min
Have you always wanted to get on a bike, but something is holding you back? This is the programme for you, presented by Melanie Abbott. If you're completely new to cycling, there's no doubt it's intimidating on the roads. It's definitely worth sharpening up your road sense and many local councils now offer bike training courses. In East London, Bikeworks run cycling for wellbeing sessions for women returning to their bikes, after a long break. Melanie goes out with a group who've been cycling to...
May 03, 2021•44 min
Today if you are a woman you are likely to live into your eighties. But what to do with those extra couple of decades? Dawn French is best known for her comedy and acting and is now an author long listed for the Women’s Prize. She talks about reinvention and still being relevant at any age. Kate Wilson talks about her court case against the Metropolitan Police and the National Police Chiefs Council. She's taking the legal action because she fell in love with a man who wasn't who he said he was. ...
May 01, 2021•56 min
Anita Rani talks to Boss Morris the all-female Morris dancing team based in Gloucester who'll be marking May Day by leading a livestreamed dance. We hear from Bletchley Park veteran Betty Webb and discuss the issue of female football commentary and whether it needs to should become more critical as the success of the game develops. Around 15 British families remain detained in North East Syria. A new report released today by the NGO Reprieve suggests that the majority of British women there are ...
Apr 30, 2021•42 min
Arlene Foster, First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the DUP, has stood down. She was the first woman and the youngest person to hold both jobs. In her resignation announcement she said that her election as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party broke a glass ceiling, and she also spoke about the trolling she's received. We discuss what her legacy will be. Kate Wilson has been giving evidence at The Royal Courts of Justice because she's suing The Metropolitan Police and the National ...
Apr 29, 2021•44 min
Emma Barnett talks to Dawn French about her fourth novel "Because of You" which has been longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and we'll find out later today if it's made the shortlist. She'll also be talking about the post-menopausal years when women often say they feel invisible, afraid of change, unemployable or just plain 'past it'. If you're an Archers listener you'll be familiar with Alice's story of having a baby as an alcoholic and the stigma and struggle she faces. Our reporter M...
Apr 28, 2021•42 min
We now know that Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe has been sentenced to another year in an Iranian prison, plus she's banned from travelling abroad. This time she's charged with spreading propaganda. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, has not seen his wife since her initial imprisonment in 2016 and is living in London with their six year old daughter Gabriella. He maintains that his wife was imprisoned as leverage for a debt owed by the UK over its failure to deliver tanks to Iran in the seventies that ha...
Apr 27, 2021•44 min
New research out today from the charity Breast Cancer Now, indicates that training breast care nurses to deliver Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - or CBT - can be effective in alleviating the distressing menopausal symptoms that some women experience as a result of breast cancer treatment. Emma discusses with Delyth Morgan, Chief Executive of Breast Cancer Now and Natalie, who had breast cancer aged 37, and suffered frequent and debilitating hot flushes and night sweats while undergoing chemothera...
Apr 26, 2021•44 min
We hear from former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard who is working to help children from developing countries get a quality education. Josephine Kamara and Selina Nkoile are Youth Leaders for Global Partnership for Education and are campaigning to keep girls in education. Pauline Black, lead singer of ska band The Selecter talks about her upbringing and the 2 Tone anti-racism message of the late 70s. Professor Basky Thilaganathan from St George’s Hospital talks about the rarely seen an...
Apr 24, 2021•44 min
In 'Come Fly the World', journalist Julia Cooke explores the history and legacy of Pan Am, one of the world’s most iconic airlines. Julia focuses on the adventurous lives and careers of the international jet-age stewardesses of Pan Am – a job which no longer exists - who were expected to fit a specific physical profile, speak multiple languages and demonstrate diplomacy. As the women worked to maintain the glamourous image of Pan Am, they interacted with international politicians and helped to t...
Apr 23, 2021•44 min
Angela Merkel steps down as Chancellor or Prime minister of Germany in September. Nicknamed Mutti or mummy she has held the top job since 2005 so her departure is a huge shift at a challenging time in global and national politics. All eyes are focused on possible successors and one candidate in the frame is Annalena Baerbock. On Monday, the Green Party announced she would be its choice to take over from Angela Merkel. She is likely to be the only woman in the race for the job and she already bei...
Apr 22, 2021•43 min
Vanessa Frake worked in the prison service for 27 years. For 16 of those years she was the head of security and operations at the notorious male prison Wormwood Scrubs. Her career saw her cross paths with some of Britain's most notorious criminals. She was the main officer responsible for serial killer Rose West whilst she awaited trial, she was made a cup of tea by Myra Hindley, and she looked after Pete Doherty. Vanessa was awarded an MBE for her work in the prison service in 2012, and took ea...
Apr 21, 2021•44 min
With the surge in people getting dogs during lockdown, Emily Dean, broadcaster and host of ‘Walking The Dog with Emily Dean’ joins Anita to discuss her shih-tzu called Raymond, the trend for ‘pandemic puppies’ and the unique relationship between women and their dogs. Newspaper reports from the weekend suggest that Prince Charles, Harry, William and Kate spent a couple of hours at Frogmore Cottage after the funeral of Prince Phillip on Saturday, presumably hoping to clear the air after what has b...
Apr 20, 2021•44 min
The original rude girl and ‘Queen of Ska’ Pauline Black was working as a radiographer when she came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the 2 Tone ska revival band The Selecter. Pauline joins Anita to talk about being the only girl on tour alongside The Specials and Madness, expressing herself as a young black woman through music, playing the role of Billie Holiday and, 40 years on, the remastering the band’s album Too Much Pressure. It is estimated that 129 million girls world...
Apr 19, 2021•43 min
Actor and writer Dame Maureen Lipman recently lost Guido Castro, her partner of more than thirteen years, having already been widowed in 2004 when her husband Jack Rosenthal died after 30 years of marriage. She tells us how you come to terms with such a loss after so long. Why do some people live in vans? Is it to save money to put down a deposit on a house or is it a lifestyle choice? We hear from George McKimm who lived in her van until 2020 and Missy who currently lives in a van with her husb...
Apr 17, 2021•46 min
Imelda May is an Irish singer/songwriter discovered by Jools Holland when she supported him on tour and subsequently appeared on Later ... with Jools Holland in 2008. She was the queen of rockabilly, with a Fifties-style frock, trademark quiff – and a voice compared to legendary blues singers such as Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. The quiff is long gone. She joins Anita Rani to discuss her music, her style and her latest album '11 Past the Hour' and the track 'Made to Love', with inspired con...
Apr 16, 2021•44 min
A woman who won a settlement from the Catholic Church after reporting the abuse she suffered, is now launching a personal injury claim against Westminster Diocese. It's because of a series of emails which she says describe her as needy, manipulative and a bully. She explains to Woman's Hour what she wants to achieve. A legal challenge began in the High Court this week about municipal waste incinerators. It's being brought by Georgia Elliott-Smith, an environmental engineer and campaigner, who sa...
Apr 15, 2021•44 min
Emma Barnett talks to the former cabinet minister Owen Paterson about the suicide of his wife Rose and the charity he's founded in her memory. Evy Cohen talks about Prince Philip and how his mother Princess Alice saved her family from the Holocaust, Georgia Elliot-Smith asks if we should stop shaming women about waste and recyling and as Sikhs and Hindus prepare to celebrate the festival of Vaisakhi (solar new year) we talk to the singer Manika Kaur. Presenter: Emma Barnett Producer: Lisa Jenkin...
Apr 14, 2021•41 min
Baroness Shirley Williams has died at the age of 90. She was a titan of British politics and a true trailblazer for women. She appeared on Woman's Hour many times and so we remember her by listening to the archive. We also speak to her good friend, Baroness Julia Neuberger. What do you do if you've just had a baby and you've been called for jury service? We speak to Zoe Stacey who recently received a letter telling her she had to do jury service but she was still breast feeding. We describes her...
Apr 13, 2021•43 min
Shepherdess Amanda Owen & the academic Clare Eglin talk about why women tend to feel colder than men. We talk to Clare Balding about Rachael Blackmore the first woman to win the Grand National this weekend. As lockdown eases and the shops reopen, we talk to the Executive Director of John Lewis Pippa Wicks and Andria Zafirakou who won a million dollar global teaching prize tells us how she's spending the money and talks about her new book "Those Who Can, Teach - What it Takes to Make the Next...
Apr 12, 2021•42 min
The 2011 Census found that 6.5 million people in the UK are carers and provide unpaid care by looking after an ill, older or disabled family member, friend or partner. It found that women are more likely to be carers than men, with 58% of carers being female and 42% male. Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Carers UK and Alyson Corner, psychologist and co-runs the 'My Horrid Parent' website discuss carers who have a relationship with the person they are caring for that inv...
Apr 10, 2021•57 min
A parliamentary report into body image has just been published. The Women's and Equalities Committee has been looking into why so many people feel dissatisfied about the way they look. They did a survey which said that 61% is adults and 66% of children feel bad about how they look most of the time. They wanted to find out whether certain groups are most at risk at poor body image and looked at the impact of social media, advertising, diet culture as well as racism and misogyny. We hear from Caro...
Apr 09, 2021•44 min
Writer and singer-songwriter Tracey Thorn has a new book out, My Rock 'n' Roll Friend. The friend in question is Lindy Morrison. They first met backstage at the Lyceum in London in 1983 when Tracey was 20, insecure, shy, just starting out in the music business. Lindy, ten years older than Tracey, was drummer for an Australian band, The Go-Betweens. To Tracey she looked like "self belief in a minidress". Tracey joins Emma to talk about friendship, being a female performer and why she chose to wri...
Apr 08, 2021•44 min
As we begin to emerge from lockdown, what are the similarities with the ‘Roaring 20s’ 100 years ago when Britain, having survived the Spanish Flu and the Great War, became a hedonistic playground? Will this time create a need for crowds, parties, touch, and an urge to ‘get out and enjoy life’? Jessica Fellowes, author of Mitford Murders crime series and companion books to the television series Downton Abbey, describes the Bright Young Things who were the influencers of their day, ‘Bachelor Girls...
Apr 07, 2021•44 min
What do you do, when your mother is in a spot of bother? You run to help…of course! That’s the situation the Countryfile and former One Show presenter Matt Baker found himself in last summer, when his mum Janice had a serious accident with some sheep, and was unable to continue with the day to day running of the family farm in the Durham Hills. Their story is documented in a four part series currently on More4 called Matt Baker: Our Farm in the Dales. Emma speaks to Janice and Matt. It's been an...
Apr 06, 2021•43 min
