Woman's Hour

Ash Barty, the Australian three time grand slam champion is retiring from tennis. Her achievements are matched only by her fellow player, Serena Williams. Andy Murray tweeted "Happy for Ash, gutted for tennis. What a player". We hear from Gigi Salmon, tennis commentator for the BBC who has interviewed Ash Barty many times over the years, and has been at all her three major wins. The concept of shame first named in the bible when Eve plucked the apple from the tree of life is invariably seen as negative force in society. But in a new book by the author Cathy O Neil she suggests that shame can be a powerful and sometimes a useful tool for good: when we publicly shame corrupt politicians, abusive celebrities or predatory corporations. She joins Emma Barnett to discuss hew new book ‘The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation’. The government is under inc

Who was Ellen Wilkinson? Poet and playwright Caroline Bird aims to tell us all about her as her new work Red Ellen goes on tour.Yesterday Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe faced a room of journalists and cameras. She knew what she wanted to say, and what she didn't want to say after six years away from home. Despite the trauma she's been through why do some people feel she needs to express more gratitude? What are their reasons? And how surprising is it to see these comments? We hear from Gina Miller who took the Government to court - and won - over how it tried to implemented Brexit without approval from Parliament. Emily Thornberry a former Shadow Foreign Secretary.With millions experiencing food insecurity in Afghanistan what impact does this have on women’s rights? Emma speaks to Mary-Ellen McGroarty, director of the United Nations World Food Programme in Afghanistan.Are you someone who can’t help but pick up a gossip magazine? Do you love nothing more than finding out about the latest celebrity break up? Cha

A new exhibition, Photographing Protest: Resistance through a feminist lens, features striking protest images by women and explores how images of resistance resonate across generations from 1968 to the present day. Maggie Murray, a prolific photographer of protest, whose images feature throughout the exhibition. As a founding member of Format photo agency, she documented ground-breaking protests of the 1980s and 1990s and tells Emma about her work. Currently based in Warsaw, Melinda Simmons has been the British Ambassador for the Ukraine since September 2019. She left Kyiv on 19 February 2022 and only finally left Ukraine on 7th March 2022 eleven days after the Russian invasion. She joins Emma to discuss Putin, Ukrainian refugees and the support role she and her team are now playing for Ukrainian citizens from Poland.We talk about the cost-of-living crisis and the ends some women are going to to make ends meet with Matthew Greenwood head of debt at the Centre for Social Justice.Would you wear the same dres

As Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe comes home after six years in Iranian detention, Emma spoke to the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss MP about what it took to secure her release along with another British-Iranian hostage Anoosheh Ashoori. In true popstar fashion, singer Rihanna announced her pregnancy in January with a New York photoshoot alongside her boyfriend, the rapper ASAP Rocky, wearing a bright pink coat, with layers of gold jewellery and chains resting on her new baby bump. And since that announcement, she’s been seen wearing a number of eye-catching outfits. But is there a bump fashion revolution coming? And what could this mean for the everyday pregnant woman? We speak to celebrity stylist Jennifer Michalski-Bray and pregnant content creator Zara Bentley.The history of civil rights changed when Barbara Lisicki met Alan Holdsworth. The two were disabled cabaret performers in the 1980s when they met, fell in love and founded the disabled people’s Direct Action Network (DAN). They became the driving force behin

Brittney Griner is 6 foot 9. She's an American basketball player, some say she's the greatest female basketball player of all time and she is currently being detained in Russia on drug charges that could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Overnight Russian courts have extended her detention for two more months. All this while tensions between Russia and the States remain tense and her family worry she may be used as a political pawn. Molly McElwee, the Telegraph's Women's Sports reporter explains.To mark Red Nose Day Ena Miller visits a Comic Relief supported project helping survivors of domestic abuse. At Tower House Horses they use equine assisted learning to help women improve their mental health and recover their confidence. A woman we are calling Sophie tells her story and Susie, one of the co-founders of the project, explains how horses help women who have been through trauma. Yesterday the government set out its plans to address racial disparities in the UK with changes to policing, health

As Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe comes home after six years in Iranian detention, Emma speaks to the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss MP about what it took to secure her release along with another British-Iranian hostage Anoosheh Ashoori.

The recent resignation of DUP First Minister, Paul Givan, from Stormont last month, has left people in Northern Ireland without a properly functioning government. On top of that, an election is coming - one that could bring massive political change if recent polls are to be believed. Leading unionist and DUP MLA Diane Dodds joins Emma on the programme to discuss Brexit, the Northern Ireland protocol and cooperation in Stormont.A damning new report has revealed how a black schoolgirl was strip searched by the Metropolitan Police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis. The review conducted by City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership took place without another adult present at the girl's secondary school in Hackney in 2020. The report states that during the search the girls "intimate body parts" were exposed and she was made to take off her sanitary towel. Emma speaks to Antoinette Bramble, Hackney's Deputy Mayor and cabinet member for children's services and Shabnam C

Marina Ovsyannikova is an employee of Russia’s state Channel One television interrupting the channel’s main news programme on Monday night in an extraordinary act of protest against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. She burst on to the set of the live broadcast of the nightly news on Monday evening, shouting: “Stop the war. No to war.” - holding a handwritten sign to the same effect. The protest was welcomed by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky who mentioned it in his televised address last night.. And within hours of her protest, more than 40,000 people had left comments on the journalist's Facebook page, with many praising her for taking a stand. Professor of International Relations at London School of Economics, Tomila Lankina joins Emma.In 2020, The Woman’s Hour Power List celebrated 30 inspiring women whose work is making a significant positive contribution to the environment and the sustainability of our planet. Today, we talk to the Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, who topped that List. Can the

On Saturday a ceremony took place at Bristol Cathedral to replace a plaque that marked the day women priests were first ordained by the Church of England, in 1994. The original plaque only listed the names of the men who attended the ceremony, and not the 32 women who had made history that day. Almost 30 years later, the plaque finally displays the women’s names. Emma speaks to Reverend Angela Berners-Wilson, the first woman to be ordained by the church, and the Bishop of Bristol, Right Reverend Vivienne Faull, who led the ceremony on Saturday.A pregnant woman who was photographed being carried on a stretcher - following the bombing of a maternity hospital in the southern port of Mariupol in Ukraine last Wednesday - is reported to have died, along with her baby. The attack on the hospital caused outrage around the world. 4000 children have been born in Ukraine since the war began nearly three weeks ago. Emma is joined by Louise Callaghan, Foreign Correspondent at The Sunday Times. Marked as a breakthrough i

Why in 2022 is there no position in the Cabinet solely dedicated to the job of Women and Equalities? Why is it always tagged onto another cabinet role? We hear from Amber Rudd who juggled the job of being Home Secretary, while she was also Work and Pensions Secretary and from Shadow Women and Equalities Minister Anneliese Dodds, who's also Chair of the Labour Party.There have been elections in India this week and one journalist who’s been covering them is Rana Ayyub. She’s an Indian, Muslim journalist who writes for the Washington Post but she’s based in Mumbai. At the moment she’s under extreme pressure because of her work. She's experiencing serious online abuse, so much so that international monitoring groups worry that her life is in danger.Anne Dickson's book, A Woman In Your Own Right: The art of assertive, clear and honest communication, was first published 40 years ago. It has been in print ever since. Anne outlines the skills and techniques she pioneered and why they are still relevant today.Our TV

She’s been credited with inspiring the likes of the Spice Girls and Madonna – singer and songwriter Betty Boo is back. The platinum success artist made a name for herself in the 1990’s for her unapologetic attitude, and combination of Pop and Hip Hop music. Betty Boo has now released her first solo single in almost three decades. She joins Anita Rani to reflect on her career and musicThere have been elections in India this week and one journalist who’s been covering them is Rana Ayyub who joins us live. She’s an Indian, Muslim journalist who writes for the Washington Post but she’s based in Mumbai. At the moment she’s under extreme pressure because of her work. She's experiencing serious online abuse, so much so that international monitoring groups worry that her life is in danger. She’s also had police charges filed against her. She says it’s because she’s an outspoken critic of the Indian Government and the Indian Prime Minister, Narenda Modi, and they don’t like her shining a light on how the BJP, which i

Northern Ireland politics are once again in flux and the government can't really function. At the beginning of February, Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill lost her role in Stormont after First Minister Paul Givan, a member of the DUP, resigned. In her role as Deputy over the years, she worked closely with former DUP leader and First Minister Arlene Foster. Now she could be on track to become the first Nationalist First Minister of Northern Ireland. In her first interview with Woman's Hour, she joins Emma. When you think of Little Women, you might not think of climate change, astrology or contemporary feminism. However, all-female performance collective Figs in Wigs have updated the classic for a new generation in Little Wimmin, a surrealist theatre show. What starts as a faithful adaptation of the book gradually becomes an absurdist and hilarious commentary on the issues facing women today. We discuss with cast members Sarah Moore and Alice Roots. In 2016 Rachael Denhollander became the first

With worldwide sales in excess of 15 million albums, the Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Joss Stone is without question among the most iconic soul singers of the modern era. She rose to fame at the age of 13 by winning a BBC talent competition and more recently won The Masked Singer. Joss has now reunited with legend Dave Stewart for her new album Never Forget My Love.In an exclusive interview in the week that her employment tribunal case continues, Maya Forstater speaks to Emma about losing her role at a company in 2019, after she had posted tweets and had conversations about sex and gender. She took her case to an employment tribunal on the basis that, amongst other claims, she had been discriminated against because of her belief – that biological sex is real, important, immutable and cannot be conflated with gender identity. Maya lost the preliminary hearing, on the basis that her beliefs were not protected under the Equality Act 2010, but she appealed and in June 2021 that decision was overturned

Why in 2022 is there no position in the Cabinet solely dedicated to the job of Women and Equalities? Why is it always tagged onto another cabinet role? Emma talks to Amber Rudd who juggled the job of being Home Secretary while she was Work and Pensions Secretary too. Plus, Shadow Women and Equalities Minister Anneliese Dodds, who's also Chair of the Labour Party.When the war in Ukraine was just unfolding we spoke to Iryna Terlecky who's Chair of the Association of Ukrainian Women in Great Britain. Since then she's has been busy responding to the refugee crisis by representing the Ukrainian community in meetings with the Government, talking to both Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, and with the Home Secretary Priti Patel. Emma spoke to her about what she makes of the latest government response to what's going on.Do you think motherhood gets enough recognition? We meet Agnes Agyepong, the founder of the Glomama Awards, a space celebrating the achievements of mothers, and one of this year’s

Emma speaks to BBC Ukraine correspondent Zhanna Bezpiatchuk about the situation in Ukraine. Today the Commons discuss the long-awaited Economic Crimes Bill. A cross party alliance of MPs will be tabling amendments to strengthen the bill. Amongst them is Labour MP, Dame Margaret Hodge who has been calling for tougher anti-corruption laws for many years, and has said there are "worrying loopholes in the bill". She joins Emma Last year, just 5% of the classical music pieces performed worldwide were written by women. That’s the highest percentage recorded to date. When the violinist Ellie Consta found this out she brought together a string orchestra called Her Ensemble to perform a range of music written by women. Ellie and violinist Sarah Daramy-Williams joins Emma. Anne Dickson's book, A Woman in your own Right: The art of assertive, clear and honest communication, was first published 40 years ago. It has been in print ever since. Anne joins Emma to outline the skills and techniques she pioneered and

Swiss-Tamil singer Priya Ragu has been shortlisted in the BBC Sound of 2022 Poll – joining Adele, Jessie J and Celeste. She tells us how her music plays homage to her heritage and is a fusion of traditional Tamil music, RnB and Soul, which she uniquely calls ‘Ragu Wavy’.All week we've been covering Ukraine. We hear from Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian MP who describes her new reality of being trained to use an assault rifle to defend her family and her country and Olena Symonenko who decided to flee Kyiv, and has escaped to Poland with her 6 year old son. If the Mona Lisa could speak what would she say? A new novel by Natasha Solomons gives voice to the painting and lets her tell her own story. We speak to Natasha and the Da Vinci expert Professor Martin Kemp.A person guilty of manslaughter or murder is already prevented from inheriting their victim’s estate by what’s known as the Forfeiture Rule. But should that law be extended to somebody guilty of domestic abuse? We speak to MP Florence Eshalomi, who is attem

We have music and chat from the Swiss-Tamil singer Priya Ragu who has been shortlisted in the BBC Sound of 2022 Poll – joining Adele, Jessie J and Celeste. She tells us how her music plays homage to her heritage and is a fusion of traditional Tamil music, RnB and Soul, which she uniquely calls ‘Ragu Wavy’. The number of refugees leaving Ukraine has reached a million. If you were listening last week you'll remember the heart-breaking interview we did with Olena Symonenko. She had decided to flee Kyiv, and was down in a bunker with her 6 year old son. She had left her flat, which she had lived in as a child and all her adult life: and just as well she did, because her block of flats had been bombed and was on fire. She sent us a picture. We've been keeping in touch with Olena all week, tracking her journey and she's now in Poland. Sharmadean Reid is the Founder and CEO of The Stack World. Her mission is to create economic and social empowerment for women through technology and media. She has been building Women

'Enough'. That’s the name of a new communication campaign launched by the Home Office this week to tackle violence against women and girls. It comes in the week of the anniversary of the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard in London, by a serving police officer. So one year on, where are we in the fight to deal with violence against women and girls? We speak to Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson who is the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, and to Woman's Hour listeners Polly and Rebecca about their concerns.The Winter Paralympics begin tomorrow in Beijing and ParalympicsGB are sending 24 athletes to compete - the biggest British Winter Paralympic team in nearly thirty years. There are five female athletes including alpine skier Menna Fitzpatrick, who won four medals in Pyeongchang four years ago. Jessica discusses our medal prospects with Andy Stevenson, 5 Live’s Paralympic Winter Games reporter; and the International Paralympic Committee's decision not to allow Russian or Belarussian athletes to take p

For over thirty years Dr Suzanne Simard has done ground-breaking research on plant communication and intelligence. She is Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and the author of a gripping scientific memoir, Finding the Mother Tree, in which she reveals the highly complex ways trees interact and communicate. Suzanne joins Jessica in the studio.As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, around 660,000 refugees, most of whom are women and children, have now fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries in the past six days. That's according to the latest data from the UN Refugee Agency.  They say Europe could face it’s largest refugee crisis this century. Many have fled to Poland where they have been welcomed in cities like Warsaw. But while many countries are opening their arms to refugees, the charity CARE International UK is warning that women and girls can be particularly at risk during widespread displacement in war situations, as they can face exploitation while trying to reach s

You might be forgiven for thinking that the females of most animal species are passive, maternal and monogamous – because that’s been the long-standing scientific consensus. But now the zoologist and broadcaster Lucy Cooke wants to expose the stereotypes and bias that lie beneath our common understanding of how the sexes work in the wild. Her new book is called Bitch - A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal. You may also have heard her presenting a current Radio 4 series called Political Animals. Lucy joins Jessica to discuss redefining the female of the species. Furniture poverty is when someone is unable to afford or access essential items. including white goods, beds, and carpets and curtains. In 2017 around 400,000 children in the UK didn’t have their own bed to sleep on, and in 2020 at least 4.8m people were living without at least one essential household appliance. These figures are expected to have risen during the pandemic, and expected to rise further with the cost of livin