Woman's Hour

The actor Jodie Comer became a household name playing the glorious baddie Villanelle in BBC drama Killing Eve, and she has gone on to win multiple awards for her work on screen and stage. She joins Emma Barnett now to talk about her latest film, The End We Start From. Think 28 Days Later meets The Day After Tomorrow with a twist – the protagonist is a new mum, who has to navigate a flooded Britain with her baby.Football commentators Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward are reported to be considering legal action against Joey Barton for his recent online criticisms of them. Eni Aluko has released a video on her Instagram speaking about the effect it has had on her. Where is the line between sexist bullying online and freedom of speech? Emma speaks to Henry Winter, Chief football writer at The Times and Seyi Akiwowo, founder of Glitch UK, a charity working to end online abuse, and author of How to Stay Safe Online.Olivia Attwood knows more than most about the financial – and emotional – cost of cosmetic treatments. The form

The actress Jameela Jamil talks to Emma Barnett about her crusade for gentle exercise and body positivity as well as her new strategy for how she communicates on social media. She’s become one of the internet’s most prominent activists holding the beauty industry and celebrity culture to account for their unrealistic ideals with her provocative online posts. Her outspoken views have led to widely publicised social media spats which she says have left her with the desire to post with more “grace and empathy”. Best known for her role as Tahini in the Netflix series The Good Place she also hosts the podcast iWeigh which declares its “radical inclusivity” agenda where guests talk about what they “weigh” or value in life as opposed to their physical weight. New draft guidance from the Home Office appears to water down previously voted on laws about Safe Access Zones around abortion clinics. To talk about what this could mean for women seeking an abortion, and why the changes might be made, Emma is joined by Jo Gi

The first female Radio 1 DJ Annie Nightingale has died at the age of 83. She was a huge trailblazer when it came to breaking down barriers for women in radio. To mark her death, we hear a clip from 2007 when Annie spoke to Martha Kearney on Woman’s Hour.Two female journalists who spent over a year in prison for covering the death of Mahsa Amini have been released on bail by Iranian authorities. Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi are appealing against their jail sentences and will remain out of prison until a decision is made. Emma Barnett is joined by Women's Affairs Journalist for the BBC World Service Ferenak Amidi to hear more.From Kourtney Kardashian to Sienna Miller, there’s been lots of recent examples of women who have kids early on in life, and then try to conceive with a new partner in their 40s and beyond. Journalist Grace Ackroyd has written candidly about her experience of this – she talks to Emma about having children again at a new stage in life, and the challenges she’s faced.Gladiators is ba

Up to one in two survivors of domestic abuse in the UK may be living with an undiagnosed brain injury. That's according to a new report by the charity Brainkind. Emma Barnett is joined by Steffy Bechelet from Brainkind and Dr Annmarie Burns, a Consultant Clinical Neuro-psychologist.How often do you feel weary and depleted? Or perhaps just plain exhausted? Anna Schaffner knows these feelings well. Now a coach specialising in helping the exhausted, in her previous life as an academic, as a Professor of Cultural History at the University of Kent, she suffered from burnout. She has now written a book, Exhausted: An A-Z for the Weary.Since 1 January, working parents in England have been able to apply for a code to access new free childcare hours for two-year-olds, which will then kick in on 1 April. The scheme is part of a significant investment in childcare announced by the Government. But one campaigning organisation has found that parents are facing major challenges in securing a code. Joining Emma is Laure

Cush Jumbo is the award-winning actor known for her roles on the stage and screen, from The Good Fight to Macbeth. She joins Clare McDonnell to discuss starring in - and executive producing – the new crime thriller series Criminal Record. Cush stars as DS June Lenker, a police detective locked in a confrontation with an older detective, played by Peter Capaldi, over a historic murder conviction.For the first time, Royal Mail has dedicated set of stamps to a female pop group, to commemorate 30 years since the Spice Girls formed in 1994. Lauren Bravo, a culture journalist and author and DJ Yinka Bokinni joined Emma to talk about it.Last week on Woman’s Hour we heard the candid admission by the former Labour MP and Government Minister, Dame Joan Ruddock that she was ready to end her terminally ill husband's life using a pillow in a bid to end his pain. Her husband the former MP Frank Doran had been suffering from end stage bowel cancer in 2017, and she struggled to get him pain relief medication in the hours bef

A pilot scheme to allow journalists to report cases from three family courts in England and Wales is to be extended to almost half of the courts. From the end of January, coverage of cases at 16 more family court centres in England will be permitted. This means 19 of the 43 centres in England and Wales will be part of the Transparency Pilot. Families and individual social workers will be anonymous under the scheme. Krupa Padhy talks to Louise Tickle, a journalist who specialises in reporting on family courts and leads a project for the Bureau of Investigative journalism supporting other journalists to do the same, and Angela Frazer Wicks, Chair of the Family Rights Group and a parent with experience of the family justice system.Popular psychology tends to define a quarter-life crisis as the confusion, stress and anxiety individuals in their 20s and 30s feel about their goals, beliefs and relationships as they seek direction in life and look to find their place in the world. Satya Doyle Byock, a clinical psych

Farah Naz, the aunt of murdered law graduate Zara Aleena, tells of her concerns that her niece’s killer has allegedly been caught having sex with a prison worker. Jordan McSweeney is serving a life sentence at high security Belmarsh Prison in South London.For the first time, Royal Mail has dedicated set of stamps to a female pop group, to commemorate 30 years since the Spice Girls formed in 1994. We talk to Lauren Bravo, a culture journalist and DJ Yinka Bokinni. We hear about the start of a new landmark Radio 4 documentary series called Child which follows a child’s development from fertilisation to first birthday from its creator India Rakusen.There’s been a surge in the number of scabies cases and experts are warning there’s an acute shortage of treatments which is turning it into a major public health threat. Emma Barnett talks to Dr Tess McPherson about who is most at risk from catching it and how best to avoid it.And we talk to barrister Harriet Johnson about a study which suggests rape convictions ar

Woman’s Hour investigates the cosmetic surgery clinic taking legal action when patients post unfavourable reviews. Kate Kronenbach tells reporter Melanie Abbott she was disappointed when she had an operation to remove fat from her arms after losing 10 stone, and received a solicitor’s letter when she wrote about her experience on the Trustpilot website. Action has also been taken against five others. The Free Speech Union is supporting them in their case. Clare McDonnell discusses the story with Melanie and speaks to the Union and to patient campaigner Dawn Knight. Is speed-dating making a comeback? Apathy over dating apps seems to be pushing both men and women towards the kind of speed dating that was so popular in the nineties. But is it better than online dating? And does it work? Clare is joined by writer Radhika Sanghani and relationship counsellor Suzie Hayman to discuss.Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina won a controversial fourth consecutive term in Parliamentary elections last elections last Sunday. Th

The number of midwives in England has increased by just 7% over the last year and some NHS Trusts in England have more than one in five midwifery jobs vacant, according to BBC research. The Royal College of Midwives says staffing gaps have to close. The BBC’s Health Correspondent Catherine Burns joins Clare McDonnell to talk about what her investigation into maternity units in England has discovered, and to share the story of Farzana, who had to give birth on her own after midwives said they were too busy to answer her calls.Carole Stone must have one of the best address books ever. A former producer of BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions, for years Carole has run 'salons' and parties bringing together hundreds of interesting people - politicians, actors, journalists. Carole’s partner, the TV broadcaster Richard Lindley, died four years ago. Carole joins Clare to discuss how and why she is looking for another soulmate at the age of 81. Could the next leader of North Korea be a woman? Clare gets the latest from lead c

Cush Jumbo is the award-winning actor known for her roles on the stage and screen, from The Good Fight to Macbeth. She joins Clare McDonnell to discuss starring in - and executive producing – the new crime thriller series Criminal Record. Cush stars as DS June Lenker, a police detective locked in a confrontation with an older detective, played by Peter Capaldi, over a historic murder conviction.A BBC investigation into one of Africa’s most influential pastors has uncovered hundreds of allegations of abuse, including a number of British victims. TB Joshua, who founded the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Nigeria, built an evangelical empire that drew presidents, Premier League footballers and millions of followers from across the globe - including from towns and cities across the UK. Multiple victims claim they repeatedly tried to raise the alarm with British authorities, including the Foreign Office, but an adequate investigation “never took place”. Two UK survivors of his abuse - Rae and Anneka - join Clar

Police are investigating what is possibly the first crime of its kind: a British schoolgirl playing a game in the metaverse was allegedly sexually assaulted by a group of online strangers. Given that this happened in a virtual reality game, it is not yet clear whether there is any crime here to prosecute. We hear from Helen Rumbelow from The Times, and her colleague Sean Russell, who has gone into the metaverse as both a man and a woman, and was struck by how different it was.How much of your daily life do you spend negotiating? Perhaps at work, or with your children – or even in-laws? Mum and a mic on Instagram, Jane Dowden, discusses the negotiations she has with her twins, and clinical psychologist Catherine Hallissey tells us what goes on in our brains while we’re negotiating, and the best way to do so with family.Is farming getting easier for women? New research out this week suggests that women working in agriculture are finding life worse now than they did 10 years ago. This comes as more women are sho

Female artists dominated the 2023 music scene. New figures from the British Phonographic Institute reveal that Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Raye, Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding and many more - spent a record-breaking 31 weeks in the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart. But that’s not all... they had seven of the top 10 singles and even took the top vinyl album spot. Why was 2023 so good for female artists? And will it continue? We ask global music business lecturer and podcaster, Karlyn King, and music journalist Jo Kendall.Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs says new Government plans to get rid of shorter jail sentences in England and Wales put women at risk. The new sentencing bill currently making its way through Parliament aims to give what are known as suspended sentences where people may have instead been given jail terms of 12 months or less. Estimates from the Office for National Statistics show around 2.4 million people - 1.7 million of those being women - suffered fr

Katherine Parkinson has graced our TV screens for almost two decades, from Doc Martin and The IT Crowd to Humans and Here We Go. Now she has a comedy drama airing on ITV called Significant Other, in which she plays one half of an odd couple - neighbours who meet in highly unusual circumstances. She joins Clare McDonnell to discuss. Former Labour MP and government Minister Dame Joan Ruddock tells Clare about her call for a free vote in the Commons to legalise assisted dying. She admitted she was ready to end her terminally ill husband’s life to stop his pain. Our New Year's day programme on negotiating provoked one listener to write to us: 'I would love you to cover negotiations between carers and their parent with dementia. Another world! As is negotiating between carer and their siblings'. Professor June Andrews, who’s a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and an author of Carers and Caring, and Dr Lis Boulton, Health and Care Manager at the charity Age UK, discuss. The Storm We Made is a new book

A new play - Shakespeare’s Women - transports ten of Shakespeare’s female characters from the 16th century to 2024, placing them in the same domestic abuse support group. Written by Lorien Haynes, this dark comedy gradually exposes each woman’s darkest secrets and asks what would happen if these protagonists survived their men and traditional narratives, to become flesh and blood today? Lorien and the director Jude Kelly, join Emma Barnett in the Woman’s Hour studio.Violinist Izzy Judd trained at the Royal Academy of Music and was an original member of the string quartet Escala, who shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent in 2008. She met her husband Harry on the McFly Wonderland tour. Following marriage and three small children, Izzy has written two books - Dare to Dream and Mindfulness for Mums. She has now returned to her love of playing the violin, with a forthcoming EP - Moments, and a single - Somewhere in My Memory. Izzy joins Emma to talk about her music and motherhood.Police are investigating what is po

The names of Jeffrey Epstein's associates are likely to be published today, after a judge in the US ordered the release of court documents. Epstein took his own life after he was accussed of sexually abusing and trafficking underage girls. Names connected to him have previously been anonymised as John or Jane Doe; but now around 170 people, mostly men, will have their association with the former financier made public. Joan Smith, journalist and author, and Georgina Calvert-Lee, an equality lawyer at Bellevue Law, tell Emma Barnett what the list will mean.Lavinia Greenlaw is one of the country's leading poets and has now published a selected edition of her work, covering three decades of writing. She tells Emma about her new role as poetry editor at Faber, the first woman to hold the position. She is now the custodian of a back catalogue that includes TS Eliot, Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes, and the gatekeeper for aspiring poets of the next generation.It is ten years since journalist Alison O’Reilly revealed th

A special Woman's Hour episode all about women and negotiation. Nicky Perfect is the former Deputy Head of the elite New Scotland Yard Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Unit. She has travelled the world teaching negotiation and working with the Government on international operations. She’ll be joining Hayley Hassall throughout the programme sharing her own experiences and advice, and taking us through how what she learnt can be used in our everyday lives.What has been the role of women in negotiations historically? Professor Margaret Macmillan specialises in British Imperial and International History from the 19th to the 20th Century. In those days, negotiations never involved women on paper – but that wasn’t always the case in reality. She joins Hayley to tell us more. Nomi Bar-Yaacov has been all over the world mediating and negotiating international conflicts. She’ll tell Hayley some of her experiences, as well as how these negotiations happen, and the different roles women play.How much of your daily life do

Just 14% of care leavers go to university, compared to 47% of young people who didn’t grow up in care, according to a report by the think tank Civitas. The figures have barely changed over the past 10 years and at the current rate of progress, it will take 107 years to close the gap. Two care-experienced young women who did manage to smash the so-called care ceiling share their experiences with Krupa; Rebecca Munro, who graduated with a masters in business and is now an Education Liaison Officer at the University of St Andrews and Lucy Barnes, a barrister.Up to half of women will have a UTI at some point in their life. Earlier this year the NHS launched a new awareness campaign which the filmmaker and author Kate Muir has criticised for not mentioning vaginal oestrogen as a treatment. Kate joins Krupa Padhy alongside Dr Olivia Hum, a GP who is on the Council of the British Menopause Society.Actor Dame Siân Phillips’ life and career are explored in a new documentary, Siân Phillips at 90. She joins Krupa to tal

Actor Dame Siân Phillips’ life and career are explored in a new documentary, Siân Phillips at 90. She joins Krupa Padhy to talk about some of her acting roles, including playing Emmeline Pankhurst in a BBC drama in the 1970s, what it was like being married to Peter O’Toole, and what she’s doing now.Clemency Burton-Hill MBE, is an award-winning broadcaster, podcaster, author, journalist and musician. She joins Krupa to discuss Journal of Wonder - the newest book in her bestselling Year of Wonder series - which takes you from January to December with classical music suggestions for every day.The power of attorney system can sometimes be abused to take advantage of older people. Krupa is joined by Carolyn Stephens, who shares her story of becoming estranged from her elderly father after he met a woman on a singles holiday. He later agreed to grant power of attorney to the woman, which resulted in him being placed in a care home without his family knowing. Journalist Sue Mitchell, who shares the details of the wh

This summer, the region of Manipur in India made headlines after two women were viciously attacked and assaulted by a mob of men. With a similar case happening this month in the south west of the country, Krupa Padhy is joined by Geeta Pandey, BBC Women and Social Affairs Editor in Delhi, and Professor of Modern Indian History at the University of Nottingham, Dr Uditi Sen, to find out why these incidents continue to happen and whether anything is being done at a higher level to stop them.Just 14% of care leavers go to university, compared to 47% of young people who didn’t grow up in care, according to a report by the think tank Civitas. The figures have barely changed over the past 10 years and at the current rate of progress, it will take 107 years to close the gap. Two care-experienced young women who did manage to smash the so-called care ceiling share their experiences with Krupa; Rebecca Munro, who graduated with a masters in business and is now an Education Liaison Officer at the University of St Andrew

Up to half of women will have a UTI at some point in their life. Earlier this year the NHS launched a new awareness campaign which the filmaker and author Kate Muir has criticised for not mentioning vaginal oestrogen as a treatment. Kate joins Krupa Padhy alongside Dr Olivia Hum, a GP who is on the Council of the British Menopause Society. Dr Ronny Cheung speaks to Krupa about the double-edge sword of children building their immunities in their early years and the disruption caused to working parents and carers. What do parents need to know about caring for a child with seasonal colds and coughs? Sally Snowman is the last official lighthouse keeper in the United States and at the end of this month she will retire after two decades of service. She's the first and last woman to be the lighthouse keeper for Boston Light in Massachusetts. She joins Krupa to discuss what it's like being a lighthouse keeper and how she feels about leaving it.We know that Christmas and New Year, although filled with joy for some,