The Conversation

BBC World Service

4.7 (91)
SOCIETY & CULTURE
UPDATED FORTNIGHTLY

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

1 DAY AGO

Women-only living

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women in France and Canada about why single-sex living spaces appeal to older women. Pat Dunn is 75 and started a Facebook group for senior women wanting to share a living space, after her husband died six years ago. There she found two housemates with whom she has lived ever since. Pat now runs a non-profit called SWLT (Senior Women Living Together) that helps other women in Ontario find similar setups. Her Facebook community has over two thousand members. Hanne Nuutinen co-founded La Joie Homebase in France in 2024: co-living spaces for women who want to stay there for weeks or months at a time. Their ‘homebases’ cater to globally mobile women, typically aged 50–80. Many of the women are still professionally active, while others are pursuing hobbies or independent travel. Their residents come from France, the United States, Africa and the UK. Produced by Jane Thurlow and Becca Johns (Image: (L) Pat Dunn, courtesy Pat Dunn. (R) Hanne Nuutinen, courtesy Hanne Nuutinen.)

26 min
16 FEB

Women making fashion for all

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women whose life changing illnesses led them to set up new businesses after they discovered high street clothes are uncomfortable and difficult to wear when you have restricted mobility or medical needs. Victoria Jenkins is one of the UK's leading adaptive fashion experts. She worked as a freelance garment technologist for fashion labels like Victoria Beckham and Jack Wills before founding the award winning universally designed fashion brand Unhidden. Victoria nearly died from an undiagnosed ulcer in 2012 and spent long periods in hospital where she met many women struggling to find clothes would accommodate their medical conditions. When she realised how hard it was to buy attractive, comfortable and practical garments she decided to design her own. Soumita Basu has an autoimmune disease called psoriatic arthritis which over time has restricted her mobility. As the condition progressed she got used to being constantly in pain but a period when she had to stay in bed proved the catalyst to setting up her clothing brand, Zyenika. The daily routine of being dressed was agonisingly painful – no matter that her mother, who was caring for her at the time, was as gentle as possible. They decided there had to be a better way and set out to design clothes that could be put on in a way that didn’t cause so much pain. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Soumita Basu, credit Diganta Gogoi. (R) Victoria Jenkins, credit Deb Burrows.)

26 min
9 FEB

Researching the lives of women in the past

Have you ever wondered if there were a scandal buried in your family history? Datshiane Navanayagam meets two female genealogists from the US and Ireland to discuss the desire many of us have to dig into our heritage. Michele Soulli is an American genealogist who made headlines around the world when she tracked down the real "Brenda" from rap superstar Tupac's hit song Brenda's Got A Baby, and reunited her with the child she had put up for adoption. Hilary McDonagh helps clients who want to trace their family histories or find missing heirs. In Ireland, where famine prompted girls to migrate overseas by themselves, Hilary has unearthed some incredible stories. Producer: Hannah Sander (Image credit: Hilary McDonagh (L), Michele Soulli (R))

26 min
2 FEB

Telling the story of pioneering women in politics

Datshiane Navanayagam brings together two women from the US and Australia to discuss the art of writing a political biography and whether women in politics are placed under more scrutiny than men. Helene Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times correspondent who fled Liberia with her family following the military coup of 1980. Her biography Madame President documents the life and political career of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa who served as president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Dr Lekkie Hopkins is a feminist academic who lead the women’s studies programme at Edith Cowan University in Perth for 25 years. Utilising her skills as an archivist and oral historian, she pieced together the story of May Holman - a pioneering Australian politician who became the first female Labour politician to be elected to the Western Australian Parliament in 1925. Produced by Hannah Dean (Image: (L) Lekkie Hopkins, credit Robert van Koesveld. (R) Helene Cooper credit William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images.)

26 min
26 JAN

Taking a fresh look at women’s designer shoes

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women who changed paths to design and manufacture their own shoes in their own countries. A former environmental engineer in India and former interior designer from Egypt explain how they found their passion. Anita Soundar was a chemical engineer before deciding to follow her need for self-expression and footwear design. While working at her father’s small factory in Chenai she studied footwear design from Italy to the Netherlands to China, learning about design to pattern making, hand crafting to mass production. In 2023 she won a global footwear award for natural material vegan footwear and an International Design Award in 2025. Her quirky designs for her company The Disobedience are made from natural materials like cotton, tomato and banana skins, have featured in high-fashion magazines like Elle India. Reem Hamed is Egyptian. She trained as an architect and set up an interior design company before turning to shoe design and manufacture. Her shoes are handcrafted and embroidered by artisanal Egyptian women. She says “comfort is not just about the way they make your feet feel… Comfort is a state of mind.” She’s wants to ensure the craftswomen that make shoes for her company, Ramla, are valued, working in good conditions and passionate about what they do. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Reem Hamed, credit Malak Hammouda. (R) Anita Soundar credit Team Disobedience.)

27 min
19 JAN

The female game-makers

How do video and board games get from idea to reality? Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women who invent, tweak and perfect the games that so many of us love to play. Sigurlína Ingvarsdóttir from Iceland has produced some of the world’s biggest video game titles, including FIFA and Star Wars: Battlefront. She now invests in start-up gaming companies as a venture capitalist. Natalie Podd invented the board game Confident while canoeing up the Amazon, and quit her corporate job in the UK as an actuary in order to work on it and other ideas. She and her husband sell their board games around the world. Produced by Hannah Sander (Image: (L) Natalie Podd. (R) Sigurlína Ingvarsdóttir.)

26 min
12 JAN

Women changing the art space

Two women with art galleries in Switzerland, London, Nigeria and the US talk about discovering and promoting new artists, building relationships with art collectors and the importance of supporting women in the art world. Maria Varnava is Greek Cypriot and grew up in Lagos. She founded Tiwani Contemporary which has galleries in Lagos and London. It champions artists from Africa and its diaspora to raise their profile to collectors and institutions based both in and beyond the continent. Maria’s friend and mentor, the Nigerian curator Bisi Silva, proposed the name Tiwani, which loosely translates as ‘ours’ or ‘it belongs to us’ from the Yoruba language. The name was chosen to show the gallery’s intentions to strive for inclusivity. Kendra Jayne Patrick, from the US founded her gallery of the same name in Bern, Switzerland in 2022 and works in New York too. She likes to show things that are strange or new and that excite her both visually and intellectually. It’s focused on the 21st century avant-garde, specialising in sculpture, painting, digital, and photography. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Maria Varnava, credit Pantelis Hadjiminas (P Studio). (R) Kendra Jayne Patrick, credit Ernst Fischer.)

26 min
5 JAN

The fast and fearless women of skeleton

Skeleton is one of the oldest winter sports in existence. Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two Olympic medallists whose careers have seen them sliding down an icy track – face first – at speeds of up to 140 kilometres an hour. Lizzy Yarnold won gold medals for skeleton at successive Winter Olympics. She joined the Great Britain national squad in 2010, winning Olympic gold in 2014 and 2018, and is the most successful British Winter Olympian and skeleton athlete of all time from any nation. Kimberley Bos is a World Champion skeleton racer from the Netherlands and will be competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. She originally competed internationally in bobsleigh, before switching to skeleton for the 2013–14 European Cup season – being the only skeleton athlete representing her country for years. She won a bronze medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2021 – the first Olympic medal winner for her country in a sliding sport. Kimberley went on to win the World Championships in Lake Placid in March 2025. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Kimberley Bos credit Viesturs Lacis. (R), Lizzy Yarnold credit Karen Yeoman.)

26 min

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4.7

out of 5

91 Ratings

Good

26/12/2020

mrspotatolady

Interesting conversations, lovely host.
Eye care - shedding surprising light on the issue

19/07/2022

Jasp002

The episode on optometry revealed how getting a pair of glasses can be a real challenge in for some, not least due to cultural constraints. I was moved by the story of the Indian girl and her barely used spectacles.
Fantastic host and topical discussions

12/11/2018

cantab107

Kim Chakanetsa is an incredible radio host. The discussions and guest speakers are invariably stimulating and topical. I look forward to a new episode all week!
Love it

20/12/2017

Nination86

Really original format, inspiring and incredible insight. Have recommended!