What comes to mind when you hear the word gossip? You’re probably imagining two women together whispering or laughing. Gossip has a bad reputation, but it can be a way of forming and maintaining, friendships. Comedian Rachel Parris and improv-artist Lauren Shearing who she works with on 'Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel, talk about the role gossip plays in their relationship.

Why do we gossip and why's it get such a bad rap when we enjoy it so much? We hear from Dr Kathryn Waddington, Emerita Fellow in Psychology at Westminster University who's researched and written about gossip for 25 years.

In the Middle Ages the word gossip meant ‘women who supported other women during childbirth’ so when did it change into the ‘gossip’ we know today? Historians Professor Melanie Tebbutt from Manchester Metropolitan University and Dr Natalie Hanley-Smith from Oxford Brookes University discuss.

So what if the discovering and reporting of gossip is your profession? Journalist Marie Le Conte, a former diarist for the Evening Standard and Camilla Wright the founder of Popbitch look at the life of a professional gossip.

Sex and relationships are a cornerstone of gossip. It’s often - ‘who is doing what?’ and ‘with whom!?’ But what happens if you broadcast your life to the world? Rubina Pabani and Poppy Jay are the hosts of BBC podcast Brown Girls Do It Too. In the days of social media - how do they find the judgemental gossip mill?

Gossip is often a key strand in storylines in films, TV and novels. Whether it’s introduced for comic effect or used in the build up to the climax of a drama, or to build intrigue in a reality television series Literary critic Alex Clark and film and television critic, Hanna Flint illustrate how.

Presenter: Emma Barnett

Guest: Rachel Parris