In 2015, Michaela Coel’s Channel 4 series "Chewing Gum", adapted from a one-woman play she wrote while in drama school, about an awkward virgin became an instant hit. She's an established screenwriter, director, producer and actor and now well know for shows like  "I May Destroy You," a story based on her own experience. She talks to Emma Barnett about her first book ‘Misfits: A Personal Manifesto’ which is a call for honesty, empathy, inclusion and champions those who don’t fit in. As you’ll have heard reported in the news recently, a shortage of lorry drivers is causing serious supply chain problems, affecting amongst other things supermarkets and even some pubs! Covid-19, tax changes, levels of pay and Brexit have all combined to contribute to an estimated shortfall of around 100,000 qualified HGV drivers. Hayley O'Beirnes is retraining as a HGV driver after her cake business went under.  She talks about her experience alongside Karen Stalker, the MD of Stalkers Transport based in Cumbria. Plus we meet Zoe Stephens. She's spent the past 18 months through lockdown 'stuck' in Tonga in the South Pacific. She'd been living and working as a tour guide in Beijing, taking tourists travelling to Tonga in March 2020, just as the world shut down due to Covid-19. She tells Emma about her adventure and what it's like being back home. And we hear from Alice Thompson, an estate agent who's been awarded almost £185,000 after her employer refused to let her leave work early to collect her daughter from nursery.  A  tribunal judge upheld her claim, awarding money for loss of earnings, pension contributions, injury to feelings and interest. Presenter Emma  Barnett
Producer  Beverley Purcell
PHOTO CREDIT;  Natalie Seery.

Michaela Coel, Lockdown in paradise, Female HGV drivers, Tribunal win

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

Personal Journals

Society & Culture

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Health & Fitness

Australian police investigating the fatal stabbing of six people at the crowded shopping centre in Bondi Junction, Sydney say they're looking into whether the attacker deliberately targeted women. Joel Cauchi killed five women - and a male security guard who tried to intervene - before he was shot dead by police. Eight of the twelve injured who went to hospital, including a baby, are also female.   To find out more Jessica Creighton is joined by BBC Australia correspondent Katy Watson based in Sydney. Jing Lusi stars as DC Hana Li in ITV’s new thriller Red Eye, set on a plane flying between London and Beijing. She joins Jessica Creighton to talk about what it’s like to play a lead role for the first time, and how important it is to see British East Asian women as the main progatonist. Ten years ago 276 Nigerian school girls were abducted by the Islamist group Boko Haram from their school in Chibok, a town in the north-east of Nigeria. A decade later, dozens of the girls are still missing and kidnappings are once again on the rise in Nigeria.  Jessica is joined from Lagos by BBC Africa Senior reporter Yemisi Adegoke. 2024 marks the centenary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. First written by British feminists, it was adopted by the League of Nations in 1924. Today we know it as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Dr Emily Baughan, Senior Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Sheffield explains the role women played in its creation. Plus, Danielle Scott, Assistant Vice Principal at Green Gates Academy, explains how the rights are still being used in schools today. A real life experience of a mugging in New York inspired Imogen Wade to write a poem which has just won the National Poetry Competition, coming first out of 19000 entries. She joins Jessica to share her poem and, as a counsellor, to explain how the act of writing helped her to process the experience. Presenter: Jessica Creighton
Producer:  Louise Corley
Studio Engineer: Donald MacDonald

Jing Lusi, Fatal stabbings in Sydney, Australia, Declaration of the Rights of the Child

This week, it was announced that 883 actors, writers, comedians and creatives had signed an open letter in support of Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, the star in a new production of Romeo & Juliet, due to run in London's West End next month. The open letter came after a statement was published by the Jamie Lloyd Company, "Following the announcement of our Romeo & Juliet cast, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company..." It was co-authored by actor Susan Wokoma who told us about the open letter. We hear from the new head of British Vogue Chioma Nnadi, a London born, fashion journalist, podcaster and the first black woman to lead the title. We hear the stories of women living in a women’s refuge in London. Do you remember our segment on female psychopaths? We hear from one woman who has been officially diagnosed with the condition, M.E Thomas. The pioneering feminist, journalist and activist Gloria Steinem made a name for herself in the 1960s and 70s through her journalism, which included going undercover at the New York Playboy Club to expose exploitative working conditions. She co-founded the Women's Action Alliance and in 1972 she co-founded Ms Magazine, putting conversations about gender equality, reproductive rights and social justice in the spotlight, and bringing the issues of the women's rights movement into the mainstream. Gloria has just celebrated her 90th birthday and tells us about the current state of reproductive rights in the US, the importance of community and hosting her own women's talking circle. Could we be happier and more successful if we acted like toddlers? Dr Hasan Merali, Paediatric emergency medicine physician, Associate Professor at McMaster University and author of Sleep Well, Take Risks, Squish the Peas, tells us what we can learn about self-improvement from toddlers. And we have music from the singer songwriter Rebecca Ferguson. Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed

Weekend Woman's Hour: Juliet open letter, Vogue’s Chioma Nnadi, Female Psychopath

Irish author Marian Keyes writes funny, clever novels about life including: Rachel’s Holiday, Anybody out There, Grown Ups, Angels. She covers issues such as  addiction, break-ups, baby loss, anxiety, depression and love, with women at the heart. We all make mistakes, but when do we stop making the same one over and over again?  This is the question at the heart of Marian’s latest novel: My Favourite Mistake. She joins Anita Rani to discuss that, mistakes, perimenopause and ‘feathery strokers’. In a landmark case, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Switzerland was violating the human rights of its citizens by inadequate action on climate change. A group of more than 2,000 older Swiss women launched the case nine years ago, calling for better protection of women's health from the effects of climate change. The Court's ruling is binding and can trickle down to influence the law in 46 countries in Europe. Anita talks to one of the senior women who brought the case, Elisabeth Stern, and the group's lawyer, Jessica Simor.  Almost 30 years ago, Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman were stabbed to death in Los Angeles. The prime suspect was OJ Simpson, Nicole’s ex-husband and a well-known NFL player turned actor. What followed remains one of the most famous murder trials in history, televised and watched by millions. He was acquitted of the murders of Nicole and Ron. He did plead no contest to charges of ‘spousal battery’ – what we now call domestic violence. And he was later found liable for the deaths in a separate civil case. OJ Simpson died on Wednesday at the age of 76. To talk about the impact his trial had on the perception of violence against women in the US is Sarah Baxter, Director of the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting and former Deputy Editor of The Sunday Times.   This week, it was announced that 883 actors, writers, comedians and creatives had signed an open letter in support of Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, the star in a new production of Romeo & Juliet, due to run in London's West End next month. The open letter came after a statement was published by the Jamie Lloyd Company, "Following the announcement of our Romeo & Juliet cast, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company..." It was co-authored by actors Susan Wokoma and writer Somalia Nonyé Seaton and Susan joins Anita to talk about the issues. On 6 April 1999, Mamma Mia! opened in the West End. As the show celebrates its 25th anniversary, Woman's Hour celebrates the music of one of the most popular and successful musicals of all time.   Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Rebecca Myatt
Studio manager: Duncan Hannant

Marian Keyes, Juliet open letter, Swiss climate victory

The pioneering feminist, journalist and activist Gloria Steinem made a name for herself in the 1960s and 70s through her journalism, which included going undercover at the New York Playboy Club to expose exploitative working conditions. She co-founded the Women's Action Alliance and in 1972 she co-founded Ms Magazine, putting conversations about gender equality, reproductive rights and social justice in the spotlight, and bringing the issues of the women's rights movement into the mainstream. Gloria has just celebrated her 90th birthday and joins Emma Barnett to talk about the current state of reproductive rights in the US, the importance of community and hosting her own women's talking circle. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe spent six years being held by the Iranian regime after visiting her family there in 2016.  When she was finally released, she chose to speak first to Woman's Hour, in May 2022.  Nazanin shared then what life was like in Iran's most notorious prison, how she survived being away from her daughter and her view on - as she put it - being used a political pawn between Iran and Britain.  She returns to Woman's Hour for Emma's last programme, to talk about what she's been doing since she came home. From the X Factor to Lady Sings the Blues, Rebecca Ferguson has become one of the UK’s most successful soul vocalists, renowned for her unique, crisp, husky vocals.  Her hit albums include Heaven, Freedom and Superwoman. She has duetted with Lionel Ritchie, Andrea Bocelli and Christina Aguilera, and collaborated with John Legend and Nile Rodgers.  Rebecca has also become a notable campaigner for change.  Last year she was one of the main contributors to the government's Misogyny in Music report and played an integral part in the introduction of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority to protect women.  She performs live in the studio, and talks to Emma about her work.

Gloria Steinem at 90, Rebecca Ferguson, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

The long awaited Cass Review, published on Wednesday by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, calls for gender services for young people to match the standards of other NHS care. Emma Barnett is joined by the former BBC journalist Hannah Barnes, now Associate Editor at The New Statesman and author of Time To Think - the inside story of the collapse of the Tavistock's gender service in children.  Alison Owen is the powerhouse British film producer behind the new biopic of Amy Winehouse, Back to Black, released this Friday.  In it, the actor Marisa Abela recreates many of Amy’s iconic performances, recordings and her most famous paparazzi moments.  Alison joins Emma to discuss why she wanted to make the film, which comes out almost 13 years after Amy’s death. Childlessness not out of choice is a difficult subject to discuss. Those who have experienced it are usually left to grieve and heal alone. Those who have friends and family members wrestling with infertility don’t even know how to talk about it. A new book with 22 personal stories about involuntary childlessness hopes to offer a support group for almost-parents. Emma Barnett talks to the author of ‘No One Talks About This Stuff’ Kat Brown and one of the contributors Rageshri Dhairyawan about their experiences. Do you remember our segment on female psychopaths? We’ll hear from one woman who has been officially diagnosed with the condition. M.E Thomas speaks to Emma about living with psychopathy.  Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Emma Pearce

Michaela Coel, Lockdown in paradise, Female HGV drivers, Tribunal win

Download our free app to listen on your phone