Joan Bakewell is a writer, broadcaster and Labour peer. Born in Stockport and educated at Cambridge, she began her career as an advertising copywriter before moving into broadcasting. A pioneering female on screen for the BBC in the ’60s, Joan’s television career started with Late Night Line-Up (1965-72), followed by Heart of the Matter (1988-2000). Joan has been a columnist for The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent and The Telegraph. Her books include the autobiography The Centre of the Bed (2004), the novel All the Nice Girls (2009), and her heartfelt reflections on life with What I leave Behind (2016). Joan was made a CBE in 1999 and a Dame for her services to journalism and the arts in 2008. In January 2011 she took her seat in the House of Lords as Baroness Bakewell of Stockport.

Over the summer, Laura Barton joins our third podcast guest, Baroness Joan Bakewell in her North London garden to discuss growing up in Stockport, the shift she’s witnessed in women’s rights and the tiny changes that make life more tolerable.