Woman's Hour

BBC Radio 4

4,6 (39)
CULTURA Y SOCIEDAD
DIARIO

Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire. Listen to our new series of conversations, The Woman's Hour Guide to Life, on BBC Sounds - your toolkit for the juggle, struggle and everything in between: www.bbc.co.uk/guidetolife

HACE 20 H

Sarah Everard anniversary, The Traitors' Harriet Tyce, Geniuses

Five years ago, Sarah Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by a Metropolitan Police officer. It was the catalyst for an outpouring of grief and anger about the safety of women. It also led to a number of reviews which documented a toxic culture at the Met Police and other forces, highlighting the lack of trust by women in the force. Since then, reforms have been instituted to try and rebuild confidence and eradicate misogyny. We discuss what has changed in the five years since with BBC Correspondent Sima Kotecha and Ellie Butt, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Refuge. Barrister turned bestselling crime author and recent star of The Traitors, Harriet Tyce joins Nuala to talk about her latest novel, Witch Trial. Harriet reflects on how motherhood was the impetus for her career change, how her knowledge of the legal system inspires her work and her experience as a ‘Faithful’ on the hit BBC TV series. An Oscar-nominated new documentary explores the impact school shootings in the US can have on the families that are left behind in a unique and moving way. All The Empty Rooms follows journalist Steve Hartman’s seven-year project documenting the bedrooms of some of the children who’ve been killed. The Netflix film features Gloria Cazares and Jada Scruggs, two American mothers who each lost their nine-year-old daughters in separate incidents in 2022 and 2023. Gloria and Jada talk to Nuala about their decision to let a documentary film crew into the bedrooms they preserve just as their daughters, Hallie Scruggs and Jackie Cazares, left them, along with director Joshua Seftel. Why do women seem more reluctant to shout about their intelligence and potential genius? New Channel 4 quiz Secret Genius has highlighted a trend of women underplaying their abilities that is backed up by Mensa data. The gender breakdown of applications to the world’s largest and oldest high-IQ society is around two-thirds men to one-third women. To discuss this, Nuala is joined by Dr Sonja Falck, a psychotherapist and author, and Hajar Woodland, who recently appeared as a contestant on the Channel 4 show. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths

58 min
HACE 1 D

Women in Iran, George Eliot on stage, Professor Kate Pickett

On Saturday Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed after Israel and the US launched a "massive" and ongoing attack against Iran's leadership and military. US President Donald Trump urged Iranian forces to lay down their arms, and for Iran's people to rise up against its government. Iran has responded by firing ballistic missiles and drones at US assets and allies across the region. Whilst huge questions still remain about what will happen next in this conflict, on Woman's Hour today we ask what this moment might mean for women in Iran. Nuala McGovern is joined by BBC Persian reporter Ghoncheh Habibiazad and international human rights lawyer Azadeh Zabeti, Co-President of the Committee of Anglo-Iranian Lawyers. Mary Ann Evans is better known by her pseudonym George Eliot. She's the author of many important novels including Middlemarch, Silas Marner, and Mill on the Floss, which brings the issue of women’s education to the fore. A new play, Bird Grove, the name of George Eliot's home, has just opened at the Hampstead Theatre in London. When we meet Mary Ann she has not yet started writing fiction, but beginning to have her mind opened to progressive new ideas. Nuala finds out more with the play's director, Anna Ledwich, and actor Elizabeth Dulau who plays Mary Ann Evans. According to the NGO International Justice Mission, child sexual abuse that takes place on social media and other online platforms is one of the fastest‑growing yet least‑detected types of child abuse globally. Offenders pay to direct the real‑time sexual exploitation of children via any internet‑connected, camera‑enabled device. Most identified victims are in the Philippines and the UK is among the top three countries consuming this material, with the United States at number one. Nuala is joined by Molly Hudson from the International Justice Mission, and Sharon Pursey, co‑founder of SafeToNet, a British online safety technology company. Kate Pickett is Professor of Epidemiology at the University of York. Her new book is The Good Society and How We Make It and in it she looks at ideas she believes will build a better society and says we “can’t afford to nibble” when it comes to solving some of the big issues we are facing. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Andrea Kidd

58 min
HACE 3 D

Weekend Woman's Hour: Tracey Emin, SEND reforms, Student midwives

A 40-year career retrospective of Dame Tracey Emin’s work has opened at the Tate Modern in London, featuring many of the artist’s most iconic pieces, from her controversial, Turner Prize shortlisted My Bed (1998) to her neon artworks, textiles, bronze sculptures, photos, and paintings. Called A Second Life, it explores the connections and tensions between her early career and the work she’s created since 2020, when she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a huge operation. Tracey joins Anita Rani to discuss her body of work. Student midwives have contacted us to say many of them are struggling to find jobs despite a serious shortage of midwives in the NHS. A new survey from the Royal College of Midwives finds 31% of newly qualified midwives are still not employed in the role, and the majority of those who have found employment are on fixed-term contracts. Nuala McGovern hears from Safia, who is in her final year of midwifery training, and Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives. Molly vs the Machines is a new feature-length documentary that tells the story of Ian Russell and his fight for online safety after his daughter Molly took her own life in 2017 following months of viewing content relating to self-harm and suicide on social media. Molly’s friends Charlotte Campbell and Sophie Conlan tell Anita why it was important for them to take part in the film. In collaboration with our Send in the Spotlight podcast, Nuala speaks to Schools Standards Minister Georgia Gould about the government's proposed SEND reforms. Writer and actor Kyla Harris joins Clare McDonnell to discuss reframing disability with her acclaimed BBC comedy We Might Regret This, which she co-created. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Dianne McGregor

58 min
HACE 4 D

Tracey Emin, Menstrual blood, Hannah Spencer MP

A 40-year career retrospective of Dame Tracey Emin’s work has opened at the Tate Modern in London, featuring many of the artist’s most iconic pieces, from 1998’s controversial Turner-Prize nominated My Bed (1998) to her neon artworks, textiles, bronze sculptures, photos and paintings. Called A Second Life, it will explore the connections and tensions between her early career and the work she’s created since 2020, when she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a huge operation. Tracey joins Anita Rani to discuss her body of work and her journey from controversial 90s YBA to national treasure. Anita speaks to Dr Danielle Einstein - a clinical psychologist specialising in anxiety and our use of tech and screens, whose research was integral to Australia’s social media ban for under 16s. We take a scientific look at menstrual blood - one of the few easily produced bodily fluids not regularly used for medical testing. We ask why and speak to scientists currently working in this field. Renate van der Molen is from Radboudumc in The Netherlands and Christine N Metz, from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research New York. And, Hannah Spencer, a 34-year-old plumber, has become the first Green Party candidate to win a Westminster by-election - and the party's first Green MP in northern England - after taking the seat for Gorton and Denton with more than 40% of the vote. Reform came second, pushing Labour, who previously received more than 50% of the vote in the 2024 general election, into third place. Anita asks the Times political Reporter Daisy Eastlake: who is Hannah Spencer? Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Corinna Jones

59 min
HACE 5 D

'Molly vs the Machines' doc, Female Afghan Ambassador, Maternity care, Cleopatra re-imagined

An interim report from Baroness Amos, who is leading a government-commissioned review into NHS maternity care in England, says maternity services are failing "too many" families, with problems "at every stage" of the maternity journey. Six factors were highlighted including racism, staffing and accountability issues. To give their reactions, Anita Rani is joined by the film-maker and activist Pippa Bennett-Warner and Theo Clarke, parent and campaigner and formerly a Member of Parliament, who suffered from birth trauma and gave evidence to Baroness Amos' investigation this week. Molly vs the Machines is a new feature-length documentary that tells the story of Ian Russell and his fight for online safety, after his daughter Molly took her own life in 2017 following months of viewing content relating to self-harm and suicide on social media. The film recreates the inquest where Ian was told the online images were safe and follows twin narratives – the story of what happened to Molly in the lead-up to her tragic death, and the broader economic logic behind AI and giant tech companies as they continue to shape and influence lives. Molly’s friends Charlotte Campbell and Sophie Conlan tell Anita why it was important for them to take part in the film. Last week the Taliban published a new penal code and women's rights groups have said that women and girls in particular are set to suffer at the hands of the courts in Afghanistan. Anita is joined by Mahjooba Nowrouzi, a senior journalist for the BBC’s Afghan Service and Manizha Bakhtari, who was the Afghan Ambassador to Austria until the Taliban took control in 2021. She continues to be an Ambassador, but without a country, representing the Afghan people against the Taliban's order. She remains accredited in Vienna, and works with a renewed focus on advocating for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. She's the subject of a new documentary The Last Ambassador. Fantasy fiction author Saara El‑Arifi’s new novel Cleopatra is a bold re-imagining of one of history’s most iconic women, Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt from 51 BC - 30 BC, a woman celebrated for her beauty and her love affairs with the Roman warlords Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. El-Arifi's Cleopatra is not confined by the limits set by men or society. She reclaims Cleopatra’s story through the perspective of a Black woman and gives voice to the queen behind the myth. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Rebecca Myatt

58 min
HACE 6 D

Kyla Harris, Womb transplants, Women in farming, Alev Scott

A baby boy has become the first to be born in the UK to a mother with a womb transplant from a deceased donor. Grace Bell, who is in her 30s, delivered her baby boy, Hugo, in December. Clare McDonnell is joined by transplant surgeon Isabel Quiroga who completed the transplant in collaboration with Professor Richard Smith and colleagues at Oxford University Hospital and Imperial College, London, and established the first uterus transplant programme in the UK. Today is the day Season 2 of the TV series We Might Regret This is released. Its creator and star, Kyla Harris, discusses how she has drawn on her experiences as a disabled person to create this funny and unflinching look at life with disability. The first results from the University of Exeter's Women in Farming health and wellbeing study are in, and they paint a concerning picture of the wellbeing of women in farming across the UK. Alev Scott’s latest book, Cash Cow, investigates the global fertility industry, exploring how much the female body is being commodified, and its impact on women across the world. Who should make money from the maternal body - only the women themselves, anyone or no one? Going undercover, she explores the breast milk black market, the trade in harvesting eggs, and the women who are surrogates for others. Presenter: Clare McDonnell Producer: Kirsty Starkey

59 min
24 FEB

SEND reforms: A Woman's Hour and SEND in the Spotlight special

Woman's Hour in collaboration with our SEND in the Spotlight podcast brings you a special programme on the impact of the government's SEND reforms in England. Whether you’re a parent, a young person, a teacher or someone who works in the wider system we find out what the changes mean for you - and help you decode the new language - whether it's IB, ISP, Targeted, Targeted Plus, or SPP. Nuala McGovern speaks to parents, teachers, charities, the School Standards Minister and the Children’s Commissioner for England. We also hear from SEND in the Spotlight podcast regulars - actors Anna Maxwell Martin and Kellie Bright. Search for the SEND in the Spotlight podcast on BBC Sounds. Contributors: Georgia Gould MP, Schools Standards Minister Marsha Martin, founder of Black SEN Mamas Katie Ghose, CEO of Kids charity and Disabled Children's Partnership Margaret Mulholland, Association of School and College Leaders Kate McGough, BBC Education reporter Eleanor Wright, solicitor at SOS!SEN Ramandeep Kaur, SEND parent Carrie Grant, SEND parent and broadcaster Katie Nellist, SEND ambassador Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association Dame Rachel de Souza, Children's Commissioner for England Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Sarah Crawley, with Carolyn Atkinson Digital producer: Olivia Bolton Editor: Karen Dalziel

58 min
23 FEB

Marian Keyes, SEND, Designer Tolu Coker, Student midwives

Irish author Marian Keyes has sold over 30 million copies of her books worldwide over the past three decades. From her 1995 debut Watermelon to Rachel's Holiday and last year's 'menopause romance' My Favourite Mistake, she’s championed telling ordinary women's stories in all their glory, with plenty of humour thrown in. Now some of her most-loved books and characters have been adapted into a TV series called The Walsh Sisters which has just debuted on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Marian and the show’s co-creator Stefanie Preissner talk to presenter Nuala McGovern about bringing Rachel and her sisters to life on screen. As the Government prepares to unveil its plans for a major overhaul of the SEND system, we hear from BBC Political Correspondent Alex Forsyth on what's been said so far and what's expected. The government has said it will spend billions to make English mainstream schools more inclusive for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, with Sir Keir Starmer saying that the experience of his late brother, who had learning disabilities, makes him "determined to change Britain so that it is truly built for all." The number of people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) up to the age of 25 in England has doubled in a decade. Student midwives have contacted us to say many of them are struggling to find jobs despite a serious shortage of midwives in the NHS. A new survey from the Royal College of Midwives echoes that finding. It says 31% of those newly qualified midwifes are still not employed in the role and the majority of those who have found employment are on fixed term contracts. This comes a year after the government announced it's Graduate Guarantee pledging that every newly qualified nurse and midwife in England would have the opportunity to apply to join the NHS workforce. We hear from Safia, who is in her final year of midwifery training, and Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives. Award-winning British Nigerian fashion designer Tolu Coker joins Nuala in the studio fresh from kicking off London Fashion Week with King Charles in the front row. Her latest collection, Survivor’s Remorse, is inspired by grief, nostalgia and childhood memories and is a joyful celebration of growing up in 1990s London and the community that shaped her. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths

58 min

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Anita Rani

Presentador/a
Emma Barnett

Presentador/a
Jane Garvey

Presentador/a
Jenni Murray

Presentador/a
Nuala McGovern

Presentador/a
Tracey Emin

Invitado/a
SAFIA

Invitado/a
Gill Walton

Invitado/a
Charlotte Campbell

Invitado/a
Georgia Anne Rebuck Gould

Invitado/a

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Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire. Listen to our new series of conversations, The Woman's Hour Guide to Life, on BBC Sounds - your toolkit for the juggle, struggle and everything in between: www.bbc.co.uk/guidetolife