In our series Under Pressure we've been looking at what happens to relationships when couples are put under extreme strain: how do they cope? Today we hear from Kate and Annie who live in Northumberland. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. In March, Julia Chain was announced as the new chair of the HFEA. Now Julia is calling for the 1990 Human Fertilization and Embryology Act to be updated. She joins Emma to discuss the changes she wants to s...
Dec 06, 2021•58 min
Brené Brown's Tedx talk 'The Power of Vulnerablity' is one of the most viewed talks in the world with more than 50 million views. Her new book 'The Atlas of the Heart' takes on a journey through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. Photo credit: Randal Ford. Calls for Boots, the chemist to permanently reduce the price of the morning after pill. With campaigner Rosie Stokes, and the Labour MP Diana Johnson. More than 4,000 women gave evidence to the Defence Su...
Dec 04, 2021•58 min
Brené Brown has always called herself a mapmaker and in her sixth and newest book, the Atlas of the Heart, out this week, she takes us on a journey through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. Her TEDx talk “the power of vulnerability” is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with more than 50 million views. She joins Anita. This Sunday marks 100 years since women's football was banned by the English Football Association. Because of Covid the...
Dec 03, 2021•58 min
The Women’s Tennis Association has suspended all events in China over concerns for the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. Her safety has become a matter of international concern after she posted sexual assault allegations against former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli and then disappeared from public view. She has since reappeared and has said she is safe and well but there are still concerns for her wellbeing. Last week China’s foreign ministry said it was not a diplomatic matter and the issue had been...
Dec 02, 2021•57 min
The US Supreme Court is set to hear a case on a Mississippi abortion law, which would ban abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy. It was signed in 2018 by the state's then Republican Governor, Phil Bryant. But it was blocked by several lower courts, so didn't come into effect. Now, Mississippi is asking the Supreme Court to rule in favour of their law and overturn the landmark case of Roe v Wade, which legalised abortion nationwide. Our reporter Melanie Abbott spoke to Jenny Ma, Senior Staff Attorney...
Dec 01, 2021•57 min
Emily Ratajkowski is an American model, entrepreneur & writer. She rocketed to fame aged 21 when she took part in Robin Thicke’s music video, Blurred Lines. At the time Emily argued that the provocative display of her body represented a form of feminist empowerment. In her first book, My Body, she argues something more nuanced. The chemist Boots is in the firing line from campaigners. For Black Friday, Boots halved the price of the morning-after-pill and now campaigners want the reduced pric...
Nov 30, 2021•58 min
Vivianne Miedema of the Netherlands and Arsenal has been crowned the winner of BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2021. The annual award from the BBC World Service is voted for by football fans from around the world. She is the all-time leading scorer in the FA WSL (women’s super league) and has scored more goals at the international level for the Netherlands than any other player, across both the women's and men's teams. This month, November 2021 she became the first player in the history of th...
Nov 29, 2021•58 min
‘The Drifters Girl’ is a musical which tells the story of Faye Treadwell, one of the first Black women to manage a vocal group in the US. Singer and actor Beverley Knight plays Faye. We discuss the ongoing appeal of the Cinderella story with Faye Campbell who is playing Cinderella at York Theatre Royal and Dr Nicola Darwood who recently co-edited a new book with Alexis Weedon called Re-telling Cinderella: Cultural and Creative Transformations. On Tuesday Sikh Women’s Aid launched a report into d...
Nov 27, 2021•57 min
Do women make better leaders? If so, what can they teach us? Strong Female Lead - Lessons From Women in Power, a new book by the journalist Arwa Mahdawi, argues that a rigid and masculine model of leadership is not up to tackling the complex problems we are facing in the world today. Arwa says ‘If we want to save the world, it’s time we stopped telling women to act like men and started telling everyone to lead like women.’ She draws on the pandemic and beyond, to showcase the leadership skills w...
Nov 26, 2021•57 min
Do you ever pause to think about where the cotton t-shirt, woollen jumper or silk blouse you're wearing have come from? Victoria Finlay's new book Fabric weaves history, anthropology and myth to tell us the stories of different kinds of cloth, how they are made, why we wear them and the industries that have sprung up around them. As the Court of Appeal clears the names of seven former Post Office clerks who were convicted of false accounting, Pauline Stonehouse tells us about how she's finally b...
Nov 25, 2021•58 min
Yesterday Sikh Women’s Aid launched a report into domestic abuse and child sexual abuse within the Sikh community. Conducted via anonymous surveys sent out over the summer, the survey of nearly 700 respondents showed that 70% had experienced domestic violence and 35% had experienced child sexual abuse or exploitation. To tell us more about this report and what can be done to help the issue, we're joined by the co-founder of Sikh Women's Aid and co-author of the report, Sahdaish Pall. Writer and ...
Nov 24, 2021•58 min
Last week, Caroline Nokes, former minister, Conservative MP and the chair of the Women and Equalities Committee - accused the Prime Minister's father of groping her 18 years ago at a Conservative Party Conference. Stanley Johnson has so far declined to comment on the allegation, saying he has no recollection of it. Caroline talks to Emma. ‘The Drifters Girl’ is a musical which tells the story of Faye Treadwell, one of the first Black women to manage a vocal group in the US. Singer and actor Beve...
Nov 23, 2021•58 min
TV and radio presenter Melanie Sykes has just announced that she’s been diagnosed with autism at the age of 51. She says it's 'truly life changing, or rather life affirming… and so many things make sense’. She tells us more. Colin Pitchfork, the man who murdered and raped Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth but was released from prison recently, has been sent back to jail for breaking his licence conditions. We speak to the former Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland, who always maintained that Pitchfork...
Nov 22, 2021•58 min
Nancy Kelley is CEO of Stonewall, the largest LGBT rights charity in Europe. She speaks about her organisation’s work and gives her reaction to recent high-profile withdrawals from Stonewall’s Diversity Champions workplace inclusion scheme, including the BBC. This week the cricketer Azeem Rafiq candidly described the racism he's suffered. We talk to the MP Naz Shah and Halima Khan who works in grassroots cricket about the impact of his testimony. For millions of families, the past 18 months have...
Nov 20, 2021•56 min
What comes to your mind when you think of ‘arm wrestling’? Burly men taking each other on to see who’s the strongest in a testosterone charged atmosphere? Well now there is a woman at the heart of this sport in the UK. Kath Whitaker is the UK's only female arm-wrestling referee and is preparing to make her debut at the national championships in Birmingham this weekend. This week the cricketer Azeem Rafiq candidly described the racism he's suffered. No one could fail to be moved by his testimony ...
Nov 19, 2021•58 min
Nancy Kelley is CEO of Stonewall, the largest LGBT rights charity in Europe. She speaks to Emma about her organisation’s work and gives her reaction to recent high-profile withdrawals from Stonewall’s Diversity Champions workplace inclusion scheme, including the BBC. Pride and Prejudice (sort of) is a sweary, anarchic reboot of the classic Jane Austen novel by Scottish writer Isobel McArthur, in which an all-female cast of five play all of the characters. Originally written for a summer season i...
Nov 18, 2021•58 min
Two months ago the then head of the policing inspectorate Zoe Billings warned of an “epidemic of violence” against women and girls. She urged police chiefs to “get a grip” of the situation and called for it to be given the same priority as terrorism threats. On her recommendation the Home Office and National Police Chiefs Council which represents the 43 police forces In England and Wales have now funded a new post to coordinate action on the issue and have appointed Detective Chief Constable Mag...
Nov 17, 2021•58 min
Last weekend Rose Ayling-Ellis and her partner Giovanni Pernice danced part of their routine on Strictly with a silent section in tribute to the deaf community. Rose thanked her partner by saying "I feel very thankful for your determination to make this dance the most positive, happy dance, it can be, because you know that being deaf, there's nothing wrong, it's such a joy to be deaf". Rose, who normally stars in EastEnders, is one of many female deaf actors to grace our screens. Sophie Leigh St...
Nov 16, 2021•58 min
Kirsten Dunst started in the acting business when she was just three years old - you may know her from films such as Marie Antoinette, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Virgin Suicides and Spiderman. She joins Emma to talk about her latest film - The Power of the Dog - written and directed by the award winning Jane Campion. Is there a 'laddish' culture within the British Armed forces? And is it necessary in order to prepare – mainly men - for armed battle and conflict? Emma discusses cu...
Nov 15, 2021•58 min
Mary Robinson, once President of Ireland and now the Chair of The Elders, has been at COP26 in Glasgow all fortnight. She explains why the climate challenge ahead is so emotional. The BBC has withdrawn from a workplace diversity scheme run by Stonewall. On behalf of the BBC, we hear from Rhodri Talfan Davies, who is Director of Nations and sits on the corporation's Executive Committee. Huma Abedin worked as Hillary Clinton’s private top aide and long-time advisor for 25 years. She was also the w...
Nov 13, 2021•57 min
Mary Robinson, once President of Ireland and now the Chair of The Elders, has been at COP26 in Glasgow all fortnight. She explains why the climate challenge ahead is so emotional. Rose Tremain's new novel called Lily begins with a baby being abandoned by her mother outside a London park in Victorian London. She’s rescued from prowling wolves by a young police officer and Lily's life as a foundling child begins. It's a story of revenge and, as often with Rose Tremain's work, the setting might be ...
Nov 12, 2021•57 min
The BBC has withdrawn from a workplace diversity scheme run by Stonewall. Last night the BBC director general, Tim Davie, said it was “unquestionable” that its ongoing participation in the scheme “has led some organisations and individuals to consider that the BBC cannot be impartial when reporting on public policy debates where Stonewall is taking an active, campaigning, role”. On behalf of the BBC Emma is joined by Rhodri Talfan Davies, who is Director of Nations and sits on the corporation's ...
Nov 11, 2021•58 min
Barbara Taylor Bradford's latest novel A Man Of Honour is a prequel to her first - the 1979 blockbuster A Woman of Substance. It's the story of Shane O'Neill who leaves County Kerry in 1899 at the age of 13 and travels to Leeds to work for his uncle. Known as Blackie on account of his dark hair and eyes, he is a handsome and ambitious grafter - and when he meets young servant Emma Harte on a foggy moor a great friendship begins. Barbara joins Emma in studio. Misogyny and misconduct in the police...
Nov 10, 2021•58 min
It was reported over the weekend that a women's rights activist called Frozan Safi was murdered, after she thought she was being taken to safety. She had been contacted and promised safe passage to Germany, but that never happened. It was a trap. We also heard yesterday about the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. When BBC correspondent John Simpson described what he'd seen and the people he'd met he was moved to tears, live on the radio. We hear from a woman now living in the UK - Shukria Bara...
Nov 09, 2021•57 min
The Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, has called for an extraordinary meeting today of senior army leaders. Concerns about the culture of the military are on the agenda, in particular towards women. Mr Wallace has said he will raise the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who died in 2012, last seen in the company of two British soldiers. Emma talks to journalist Hannah Al-Othman and Emma Norton, director of the Centre for Military Justice. Fiona Hill was the top Russia advisor in the Trump admin...
Nov 08, 2021•57 min
Fourteen years ago this week, 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was sexually assaulted and killed in a brutal attack in her apartment in the Italian city of Perugia. As the world's media descended, a narrative quickly emerged around Amanda Knox - Meredith’s American flatmate - and her then boyfriend Rafaele Sollecito. After being found guilty and serving four years in prison, Amanda was fully exonerated by the Italian Supreme Court on appeal in 2015. Amanda Knox talks to Emma about tr...
Nov 06, 2021•57 min
Following last week’s astounding discovery of a set of Roman sculptures on the HS2 rail link route in Stoke Mandeville, we hear from the lead archaeologist for HS2 contractor Fusion Rachel Wood and also from Dr Penny Coombes, a Teaching Associate in Roman Archaeology at the University of Sheffield. Studies consistently show that women are more vulnerable than men to the impacts of climate change. This is due to women being more likely to live in poverty, more likely to be dependent on the land a...
Nov 05, 2021•54 min
Fourteen years ago this week, 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was sexually assaulted and killed in a brutal attack in her apartment in the Italian city of Perugia. Her death was a shocking and unimaginable loss to her family. But sadly her name did not become the most memorable in the murder investigation that followed. As the world's media descended, a narrative quickly emerged around Amanda Knox - Meredith’s American flatmate - and her then boyfriend Rafaele Sollecito. Dubbed 'Fox...
Nov 04, 2021•57 min
Kathleen Stock was until last week a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex. In the last few years she has become better known for her gender critical views, contributing to the highly charged public debate over trans rights and what she and others see as the re-defining of the word ‘woman’. This year she published a book called Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism, in which she argues that we are in an era of Emperor’s New Clothes, that it isn’t possible for people to c...
Nov 03, 2021•57 min
The starting gun has fired on COP26, and the UK now has less than two weeks to get around 200 countries over the line towards stronger commitments on climate action. It's not going to be easy. Of the 25 COPs that have gone before, only one produced concrete targets for change. That was the 2015 Paris climate conference - aka COP21 - where two new ideas were launched onto the international stage: keeping average global temperature rises below 1.5C, and the notion of aiming for 'net zero'. Women w...
Nov 02, 2021•57 min
