300 episodes

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

Woman's Hour BBC Radio 4

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.1 • 2.6K Ratings

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

    Biba exhibition, Pupil behaviour, Australian politician Georgie Purcell, Breaking the cycle

    Biba exhibition, Pupil behaviour, Australian politician Georgie Purcell, Breaking the cycle

    Nearly one in five teachers working in England has been hit by a pupil, according to a new BBC commissioned survey of 9,000 teachers. The survey, gathered between February and March this year, also found that 15% of secondary school teachers say they have experienced sexual harassment from a pupil when working at a school. The teacher workforce is predominantly female, 76% of teachers are women. Nuala McGovern is joined by Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of teacher’s union NASUWT.

    It’s 60 years since the first Biba shop opened and the Fashion and Textile Museum in London have just opened a new exhibition: The Biba Story - 1964-1975. On until the 8 September, it explores how the fashion phenomenon blossomed to become the world’s first lifestyle label. Nuala speaks to its founder - Barbara Hulanicki - and the curator of the exhibition - Martin Pel.

    Australian politician Georgie Purcell is the youngest woman in the parliament of the state of Victoria. She’s also a former stripper who holds degrees in law, and communications and politics. From posting TikToks about animal rights, politics, and beer, to archiving her life achievements with tattoos and sharing photos of herself pole dancing – she is definitely not your average politician. She’s also been a target of almost constant sexist attacks and abuse, which on occasions made her fear for her life. Georgie talks to Nuala about why she's still determined to get more women into politics.

    In the fourth part of our series, Breaking The Cycle, a boy who was groomed and trafficked by a gang tells his story. He was kicking a football with a mate when a man in a flash car pulled up and befriended them. Soon that 14-year-old was going missing from home and selling drugs from a 'trap' house in a seaside town far away. He describes how isolated and frightened he felt and the sheer relief when it was all over. His 'guide' from a new practice called SHiFT has helped him to understand what happened and how to stay out of trouble. Our reporter Jo Morris met them.

    Today marks 30 years since the beginning of BBC Radio 5 Live. Once having a reputation for being ‘bloke radio’, many well loved and respected female broadcasters including Naga Munchetty and Rachel Burden have taken over the airways. Nuala hears from presenter and broadcaster Eleanor Oldroyd, who has been at the station from the very beginning, to discuss what has changed for female broadcasters and women’s sport.

    Presenter: Nuala McGovern
    Producer: Claire Fox

    • 57 min
    Stoning of Women in Afghanistan, Jazz with Zara McFarlane, AI job losses & women

    Stoning of Women in Afghanistan, Jazz with Zara McFarlane, AI job losses & women

    The leader of the Taliban has declared on state television that women who commit adultery will be stoned to death. Nuala McGovern speaks to the former deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament, Fawzia Koofi.

    We look at the legacy of children's TV executive Kay Benbow, hailed as “Queen of the Beebies”, who has died with historian Dr Emily Baughan and producer Anne Wood.
    Our reporter Jo Morris talks to the mum of a young man who got into serious trouble with drugs in the third in our series Breaking The Cycle about SHiFT a new approach to helping young people at risk of going off the rails.
    A new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research warns of an AI "jobs apocalypse" which will have the greatest impact on women and young people. We talk to Carsten Jung from the IPPR and to AI Expert Prof. Gina Neff.
    And live music from Zara McFarlane who's appearing at this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival.
    Presenter: Nuala McGovern
    Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
    Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood

    • 53 min
    Killed Women campaign, Anti-ageing products and young girls, France birth rate

    Killed Women campaign, Anti-ageing products and young girls, France birth rate

    Killed Women is a group formed of relatives of women who were murdered in domestic abuse situations. They are campaigning to get the minimum sentence for domestic homicide raised, so it’s the same as if the victim was killed on the street. Julie Devey, a member of Killed Women whose daughter Poppy was stabbed to death in bed, joins Nuala McGovern alongside Clare Ward KC, who led last year’s independent review into Domestic Homicide Sentencing.
    When and if a woman chooses to have children is becoming one of the defining issues of our time. It's an issue of great concern to Emmanuel Macron, the President of France - where there were 1.8 births for every woman last year. He's announced plans to incentivise people to have more children including reforming parental leave and free fertility checks for everyone at the age of 25. To discuss this Nuala is joined by Stefania Marassa, Associate Professor of Economics at Cergy Paris University and Sarah Harper, Professor of Gerontology at the University of Oxford.
    Last week, a chain of pharmacies in Sweden banned the sale of anti-aging skincare products to customers under 15. The measures come amid a growing trend of young girls’ interest in high-end skincare products, after seeing them used by influencers on YouTube and TikTok. Nuala speaks to Monika Magnusson, The CEO of Apotek Hjärtat, the company which introduced the age restriction, and Abby Robbins, a mother from the UK, who has first-hand experience of this trend.
    In the second part of our series Breaking The Cycle the SHiFT guide Eva has received a crisis call from one of the young people she works with. Though she's worried about him she's pleased that he reached out, it shows he is beginning to trust her. Jo Morris reports from SHiFT in Greater Manchester. It's a new approach to supporting teenagers at risk of getting into serious trouble.
    Presenter: Nuala McGovern
    Producer: Lottie Garton

    • 57 min
    Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, Breaking the cycle, Musih Tedji Xaviere

    Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, Breaking the cycle, Musih Tedji Xaviere

    Described as a grim portrayal of human nature, Mothers’ Instinct is a film about the darker side of maternal love. Academy Award-winning actresses Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway play best friends raising sons of the same age in the same neighbourhood. The psychological thriller follows their apparently picture-perfect life in Sixties suburbia. The two friends in real life join Nuala McGovern to discuss.
    A new BBC study of elite British sportswomen shows that many are training and chasing medals for Great Britain while earning surprisingly low wages. The 143 female athletes who responded were above the age of 16, and were competing for their country in senior sport or at top club level. Some women had considered giving up sport, because of the cost of living now. Nuala is joined by Becky Grey, BBC Sport journalist who has been working on this study.
    In the first in a new series, Breaking The Cycle, following the work of the SHiFT team in Greater Manchester. Set up to help young people at risk of getting into serious trouble the approach is all about relationships. A 'Guide' works with a child and their family for at least 18 months and just keeps showing up. Our reporter Jo Morris went out and about with the team over the first year of the practice. Today, Sally Dicken from SHiFT paints a picture of the young people they are trying to help and explains the problems SHiFT has been set up to tackle.
    These Letters End In Tears follows the story of two girls, Bessem and Fatima, as we learn the price they pay for falling in love. In Cameroon, where the book is based, same-sex relationships are punishable by law. The author, Musih Tedji Xaviere, has made a huge personal sacrifice bringing this story to life, and joins Nuala in the studio.
    Reporter: Jo Morris

    • 57 min
    Weekend Woman's Hour: Laura Kenny, Actor Vicky Knight, baby loss certificates

    Weekend Woman's Hour: Laura Kenny, Actor Vicky Knight, baby loss certificates

    Dame Laura Kenny, Britain's most decorated female Olympian, talks to Emma Barnett about her sporting career, motherhood and her decision to quit cycling.
    Friday’s Woman’s Hour came live from Doncaster which came bottom of one league table for opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the UK last year, according to the website money.co.uk which analysed data from the Office for National Statistics. So we wanted to find out why. Anita was joined by BBC Radio Sheffield’s Paulette Edwards to speak to local entrepreneurs across the city. We hear from Rachel Stockey, Head of Entrepreneurial Skills at the Entrepreneurship Institute at King’s College, London as well as Amy Furniss who set up a business selling dried flowers in 2020 during the Covid lockdown.
    On 27 February, Emma Barnett spoke to Zoe Clark-Coates, who runs the baby loss and bereavement charity The Mariposa Trust, about her campaign for baby loss certificates. They were introduced in England in February for parents who’ve lost a baby before 24 weeks of pregnancy. Emma shares her own story and also speaks to a woman who’s decided it’s not for her, and another who applied straight away and has now received four baby loss certificates.
    The new film Silver Haze is based on recollections of real events in actor Vicky Knight’s childhood, including when she survived an arson attacked aged just eight. Vicky talks to Emma about blending her real childhood experiences with the narrative of the film, and why she wanted to tell her story.
    Have you ever had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right? A gut reaction or a tingly spidey-like sense that tells you something is off? Author of Emotional Labour, Rose Hackman joins Emma to explain why we need to stop calling it 'women’s intuition'.
    John Lennon told them that ‘girls don’t play guitar’, but these four girls from 1960s Liverpool were determined to prove him wrong. Mary, Sylvia, Valerie and Pamela formed Britain's first female rock'n'roll band The Liverbirds, and went on to tour stadiums across Europe, record two hit albums and play with the Kinks, Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry – all in the space of five years. Emma talks to the two surviving members of the band about their incredible story.
    Presenter: Krupa Padhy
    Producer: Hanna Ward
    Studio Manager: Emma Harth

    • 54 min
    Who wants to be a female entrepreneur?

    Who wants to be a female entrepreneur?

    Woman’s Hour is joined by BBC Radio Sheffield in Doncaster for a special live panel show to find out how to be a successful female entrepreneur.
    Woman’s Hour presenter Anita Rani and BBC Sheffield presenter Paulette Edwards talk to local business women and experts about how to start and sustain a thriving business. They investigate how the stubborn barriers of funding, childcare and confidence are still holding women back and explore the interventions needed to bring about lasting change, so more women and girls can choose to turn their great ideas into successful and lasting businesses.
    On the panel are: Amy Furniss, a nurse from Doncaster who turned entrepreneur with a dried flowers business; Akeela Mohammed, who sold her two nurseries in Doncaster and now wants to open a Desi café; Rachel Stockey, Head of Entrepreneurial Skills at the Entrepreneurship Institute, who empowers women to make waves by practising her Seven Skills of Entrepreneurial Mindset; Christine Hockley, Managing Director of Funds at the British Business Bank in Sheffield, who is one of a small number of the country’s female investors; and Emma Jones, who in 2005 set up Enterprise Nation, which aims to provide expert advice and support for small businesses.
    Presenters: Anita Rani and Paulette Edwards
    Producer: Rebecca Myatt
    SM: Phil Booth

    • 54 min

Customer Reviews

4.1 out of 5
2.6K Ratings

2.6K Ratings

navsboouwlansnaleju ,

Good insights, quite limited

Really enjoy Women’s Hour mostly. Deeper insights into really people’s lives, their work and sociology-political affairs.
However, this is structured and aimed at the middle class. There’s sympathy, for the working class, and an understanding for the elite, however, I imagine this content will be pretty inaccessible for many.
More raw, open & in-depth discussion needed/wanted, on daily struggle, the reality UK politics has on people, the reality of people not being seen by the NHS etc and ways to bring people together, rather than just talking it up & actually offering real solutions-or better equipped solutions.

Padlom.com ,

Talking topics

All topics covered are interesting and useful apart from sports.

Lucylu8282 ,

Hit or miss

I have a love hate relationship with WH. Sometimes it really resonates and the guests and topics are great, but other times it’s quite uncomfortable to listen to, particularly due to Emma’s interview technique. It seems like she tries to overcompensate to really get to the answer that she wants to hear (or thinks her listeners want to hear) and in doing so can be quite rude and derogatory to guests, to such an extent that their answers seem to be falling on her deaf ears! Let them speak and give their points! Listen more and perhaps if she doesn’t feel like they’re being open enough and addressing the crux of the issue, say so and give them the opportunity to respond but don’t keep interrogating and interrupting- it’s quite stressful and sometimes quite negative to listen to!

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