Woman's Hour BBC Radio 4

The American performer Nicole Scherzinger came to our attention as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. She has since carved out a successful solo career with albums, serving as a judge on television talent shows including The X Factor. Eight years after she was nominated for an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Grizabella in Cats, Nicole has now returned to the West End stage where she stars as the immortal Norma Desmond in a new production of the musical Sunset Boulevard. She joins Anita to discuss taking on this iconic role.

The cost of living has put a strain on people’s budgets and a recent report from Carnegie UK Trust suggests around a third of people are not even seeing their friends because they can’t afford to. To discuss how to navigate the finances of friendship Anita talks to Danielle Bayard Jackson, a female friendship coach and Otegha Uwagba, author of We Need to Talk about Money.

Singer-songwriter and producer Asha Puthli is regarded as one of the most successful vocalists to come out of India. Referred to as a cosmopolitan pioneer of jazz, funk, soul and electronic dance music who has recorded ten solo albums for labels like EMI and CBS/Sony she joins Anita Rani to discuss 50 years in music.

India’s Supreme Court has issued a handbook of 40 words which judges should avoid when describing women in writing judgments or filing cases before courts. Ranjana Kumari is the Founder and Director of the Centre for Social Research, a women's rights organisation based in New Delhi. She joins Anita to talk about how sexist views have played a role in disadvantaging women in India’s courts.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Emma Pearce

Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.

Dame Joan Collins has dominated the stage and screen for over seven decades, starting her career at just 17. Best known for her roles in the 1980s TV phenomenon Dynasty and Hollywood Golden Age films, she has written a new memoir Behind the Shoulder Pads: Tales I Tell My Friends. She speaks to Emma about her glittering career, sexism in Hollywood and turning 90.

Students are more likely than other groups of people to be subjected to sexual assault. A study soon to be published by researchers at Oxford University has found that one in four female students at the university had experienced some sort of sexual assault in the preceding year. Now, universities are said to be spending increasingly more of their time investigating complex sexual misconduct cases. But how equipped and effective are they in investigating such cases? And why are students putting their faith in university hearings rather than going to the police?  Emma discusses with Professor Steve West, Vice Chancellor of University of West of England, Eleanor Laws KC, leading criminal barrister and Geraldine Swanton, a lawyer working with the higher and further education sector.

A new report from a commission at the medical journal The Lancet looks at how cancer disproportionately impacts women. “Women, Power and Cancer” puts the case forward for an intersectional feminist approach to cancer - with the goal of transforming the ways women interact with the cancer health system. The commission has been headed up by Dr Ophira Ginsburg from the National Cancer Institute in the US.

Presented by Emma Barnett
Producer: Louise Corley

The managing director of AFC Wimbledon has resigned after being secretly recorded making sexist and abusive comments about a female colleague, just two months after publicly committing to tackling sexism as part of the Her Game Too campaign. Emma Barnett gets reaction from Lewes FC Chief Executive Maggie Murphy and Yvonne Harrison, CEO of Women in Football.

Minna Dubin is the author of Mum Rage: The Everyday Crisis of Modern Motherhood. It's a book inspired by her own experiences and she then spent three years speaking to other mothers, to build up a picture that goes beyond her own domestic sphere.

In 2021, prominent Chinese journalist and #MeToo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin was arrested and jailed. Unseen for the last two years, the Chinese Government announced that her closed-door trial began on Friday. Journalist Jessie Lau joins Emma to discuss the latest in this case.

Emma talks to author Ysenda Maxtone Graham about her new book Jobs for the Girls which gives a snapshot of British women's working lives from 1950, through cardigans and pearls, via mini-skirts and bottom-pinching, to shoulder pads and the ping of the first emails in the early 1990s.

Claiming to tell unknown stories about the iconic singer, alongside songs some of his much-loved songs, this world premiere musical hopes to reflect his enduring legacy. His youngest daughter Tina, one of the producers, and the director and choreographer of the show, Kathleen Marshall join Emma Barnett.

We discuss the possible decision to cancel another part of the high speed rail link - HS2 - and the impact it could have on women with Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, co-director of the Women's Budget Group, a Feminist Economic Think Tank and Zoe Billingham, Director of the IPPR North - based in Manchester.

Between 1975 and 1980, Peter Sutcliffe murdered 13 women and attempted to murder at least seven more across the North of England.  A new ITV drama series, The Long Shadow, portrays the women who were killed, and their families, as well as the hardworking but flawed and misogynist police investigation.  Joining Emma are Willow Grylls, executive producer of the show and Meg Winterburn, who worked on the investigation as a police sergeant.

Exclusive research shared with Woman’s Hour claims that £60m is ‘wasted’ in England every year on Tribunals for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Local authorities ‘fight’ thousands of parents of disabled children about what support the child gets and where they go to school  – but 'lose' 96% of those cases. This comes on the day that one of the country’s leading experts delivers a valedictory lecture after a 40 year career advocating for disabled children. Dame Christine Lenehan, Director of the Council of Disabled Children, part of the National Children’s Bureau,

Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant

Emma Barnett hears from one of the women alleging she was assaulted by Russell Brand. Speaking for the first time since accusations became public, 'Alice', who has accused Russell Brand of sexual assault when she was a teenager, says Brand's emphatic denial of the allegations of rape and sexual abuse against him is "insulting". 'Alice', who had a relationship with Brand when she was 16 and he was 30, says she wants to start a conversation about changing the age of consent.

On her first day back at the Woman's Hour helm after maternity leave, Emma gets some advice and reflection from someone who returned to work after a similar break, the global literary force that is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Author of bestselling books including Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah, plus essays and short stories, she has just released her first children’s book, Mama’s Sleeping Scarf.

You’ll no doubt be familiar with the book Frankenstein - but how much do you know about its author Mary Shelley? That’s a question that led director, Lucy Speed, and producer, Deborah Clair, to write, direct and produce their new play that’s about to start touring in the UK. Conception - Mary Shelley: The Making of a Monster tells the story of a journey of self-discovery, as the Frankenstein author returns, years later, to Lake Geneva where she wrote her famous novel. The play is hitting the stage around the 200th anniversary of the first publication of the novel under Mary Shelley’s name - having originally been published anonymously.

Artist and author Fleur Pierets embarked on a performance art project with her wife, Julian, in 2017, aiming to get married in all the countries where same-sex marriage was legal at the time. But their dream was cut short when Julian was diagnosed with late-stage brain cancer in early 2018 and died six weeks later. It’s a story Fleur has put down on paper in her book, Julian, which has just been translated into English and released in the UK.

Since the 1980s, the comedian and actor Doon Mackichan has been a TV regular, starring in programmes like Two Doors Down, Smack the Pony and Brass Eye. She has also played plenty of roles on stage. She dissects how today’s culture still expects women to adhere to stereotypes, some of which she refuses to act out, as described in her memoir, My Lady Parts.

Presenter: Jessica Creighton
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Sarah Crawley