Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers are the producing partners behind some of the biggest American TV dramas of modern times – and they are always female character led. They include Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and of course the Netflix hit Bridgerton – adapted from Julia Quinn’s racy novels set in the Regency era in England. The first series was released at the end of 2020, and is well known for having racially diverse cast and steamy sex scenes. Anita Rani speaks to Shonda and Betsy about their work and new projects.

We hear how primary school pupils, as well as youngsters from middle class ‘leafy suburbs’, are being lured into gangs and county lines drug running according to Anne Longfield in her new report for the Commission on Young Lives.

A new project, led by Lancaster University, has created memory boxes, designed to help women whose babies are taken into care at birth while a court determines their child’s future. We hear why these ‘Hope boxes’ are so important to the women who developed the idea and Research Fellow, Claire Mason who supported them. And discuss why the number of newborns in care proceedings in England and Wales has increased over the past decade.

The actor and playwright Sudha Bhuchar discusses ‘Evening Conversations’ currently on stage at the Soho Theatre in London.

And Inspired by the epic Himalayan scenes featured in Bollywood films, chef and food writer Romy Gill details her journey from Kashmir to Ladakh, sharing recipes she learned along the way.

Presenter: Anita Rani