Comedian and actor Samantha Baines is back with a brand new series. Today she's chatting with TV presenter Laura Whitmore and finding out about her inspiring woman from history.

“Feel empowered and if you start to do it, if you start to feel your voice heard, you will never go back”

Mary Robinson

Laura talks about her first experience of Twitter trolls, gambolling in Edinburgh with Sam and their magical network of mutual pals.

Laura talks about her work with the global children’s charity Plan and how her mum inspired her to use her TV profile as a platform to start important conversations.

She’s picked Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first female president and a former UN High Commissioner, as her amazing woman from history.

Laura talks about how this woman inspired her as a young girl, opened her eyes to women in power and was a model for emotion and compassion, as well as rocking some pretty amazing suits and. shoulder pads.

Laura explains how she got to interview her hero recently (and talk music!) before telling us how Robinson swapped the church for law, before embarking on an impressive political career.

You can follow Laura on social media @thewhitmore

And you can find out more about Mary Robinson’s climate change podcast 'Mothers of Invention’ here:

https://www.mothersofinvention.online

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Sam’s joined by fellow actor, comedian, broadcaster and general career twin Emily Lloyd-Saini.

"In the line of work we do there are a lot of doors that feel locked sometimes. Find another one."

Emily’s about to appear in Horrible Histories, Catastrophe and presents on the BBC Asian Network on the Mawaan and Emily Show. Emily presents the story of Chilean pilot Margo Duhalde.

"Men were convinced they were the ones who could do things. They always looked down on us women and it’s only recently they’re beginning to realise we’re equal and sometimes actually better than them" (Margot Duhalde, 2017)

Emily explains how she and Samantha met when she was MCing the Funny Women competition and the advice she’d give her teenage self before getting meaningful about favourite movies.

They chat about making it in acting and comedy, their ideal roles and the increasing number of strong female leads in TV drama as well as diversity on TV. This ends up being a pretty deep chat about representation and inclusiveness in well… life in general.

Emily’s chosen inspiring historical woman is Margot Duhalde: the first female military pilot in Chile who died in February this year.

Emily explains how Margot learned to fly at just 16 years old in 1938. She later nipped across the Atlantic to fly with the French Free Forces eventually ending up with the Air Transport Auxiliary of the British RAF, becoming the first officer in the women’s section of the ATA.

She finally did get in with France and became their first female combat pilot. Yay!

Follow us on social

@emilylloydsaini

@eggcomedy

@periodspodcast

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Sam’s joined by presenter and founder of tbseen.com Kate Thornton and journalist Rosamund Urwin.

Note - we recorded this show when Ros was still at the Evening Standard. She’s now a reporter for the Sunday Times.

Kate: “I think we’re living the most exciting time right now."

Ros: “She wrote about things in a blunt way that wasn’t done at the time"

Sam, Kate and Ros fight it out for a liqueur chocolate over the "getting to know you" game, before getting to know some seriously inspiring women writers.

Kate shares her love of Harper Lee, the writer who brought us "To Kill a Mockingbird" and recently “Go Set a Watchman”. She talks about the life of this private but brilliant writer, from her partnership with Truman Capote to the controversies of mis-credited work.

We find out how Lee’s friends clubbed together to support her writing for a year, and this causes Sam and Ros to reflect upon the people who have supported their own budding careers in journalism and performance.

They discuss how Harper Lee’s sister guarded her business affairs and protected her work, provoking a controversy that means Kate has been unable to bring herself to read ”Go Set a Watchman".

Sam quizzes her guests on the period of history they’d visit if they could before discussing sexism in journalism and how female editorship in newspapers can influence our media massively. The pair share their shock at leaving university and encountering Fleet Street misogyny and Kate explains how @piersmorgan stood up for her when she was being intimidated by older, male journalists.

Ros introduces the indomitable Dorothy Parker, dubbed “the mistress of the verbal grenade”. This writer and journalist with a viper’s tongue built a composite career and wheelhouse of incredible quotes that inspired Rosamund with the power of the word.

They discuss the painful life experiences that led to Parker’s problems with alcohol and suicide attempts, her radical and blunt voice and verve in fighting for causes she believed in. Ros also reads us one of her hero's poems!

Follow our guests:

Kate Thornton

@k8_thornton (twitter)

@thekatethornton (instagram)

tbseen.com

Rosamund Urwin

@RosamundUrwin (twitter)

@periodspodcast

@samanthabaines

samanthabaines.com

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“We have a massive responsibility to use social media for positivity and civil engagement and bridge the gap between politics and people.”

In today’s episode Gina Martin joins Sam in the studio. Gina is a writer and campaigner who is working to have ‘Upskirting’, the practise of taking pictures up a person’s skirt without their consent, made a sexual offence.

Gina picks fashion designer Mary Quant, the subject of a forthcoming V&A Exhibition, as her inspirational woman from history. Period: 1950s, 1960s to the present day.

Mary Quant: “I created clothes that worked and moved and allowed people to run, to jump, to leap, to retain their precious freedom."

Gina tells us how the moment she was waiting to watch her favourite band at a festival became a life-changing incident, when some men began to harass her and photograph her underwear up her skirt. She explains how the scuffle escalated into a scene, the police became involved but the case was ultimately closed.

Gina explains how she felt let down by the authorities when she discovered that the law was not on her side. When she shared a picture of the perpetrators on Facebook she was accused of harassment. She used her anger to drive her campaign for change.

Gina talks about the media circus, finding herself pitted against caricatures on TV, and tackling online abuse and victim-blaming. She had to become an early bird to juggle a full-time job in advertising with her campaign work and discovered just how resilient she could be.

She explains how a community of supporters have grown out of her work, and the moment she realised she had the power and drive to change the law as an individual. As an average 9-5er a bit of hard work and research has made her realise how we all have the power to participate in law - our democracy isn’t a matter purely for politicians. This is a message she is keen to share.

Gina has picked the designer Mary Quant, often credited for the miniskirt, whose 1960s fashions typified women’s self-expression and liberation through clothing. They discuss the politics of women’s clothing and how Quant's influence went hand in hand with liberation movements in the 20th Century.

Ahed of the Quant exhibition at the V&A next year, Sam has a brainwave and offers up Gina’s pink skirt to be featured as part of the show. Tweet your support to the V&A if you think it’s a good idea! @V_and_A

Follow Gina

@beaniegigi on Facebook and Twitter.

#stopskirtingtheissue

www.beaniegigi.com

Find out about the V&A’s forthcoming Mary Quant Exhibition

https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/mary-quant

@V_and_A

@periodspodcast

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Today Sam’s joined by two of the UK’s finest photographers: Laura El-Tantawy is an Egyptian photographer whose work explores themes that cross the boundaries of East and West. Sheila Burnett came to London in the 1970s as a illustrator before becoming one of London’s most esteemed theatre photographers.

Laura: "Words for me say things I can’t express in images and images says things I definitely can’t articulate in words”

Sheila:“If an actor sees you being sentimental they’ll be out the door like a shot!"

Laura explains how her Mum’s artistic work inspired her to grow away from the small Worcestershire village where she was born. She aims to marry words wth image in her creative journey, travelling the world working and teaching as she follows projects she is passionate about. She also explains how the camera makes her braver and less introverted.

Sheila also shares her travelling tales, having started with a theatre company, where she caught the bug for photography before going professional in 1985. They discuss the sentimentality of photography and how you can’t bring emotions to every shoot!

Sam hears how Sheila developed negatives in dark rooms in the pre-digital era. She started taking her dark room on the road and developing in hotel rooms, whereas Laura shoots a lot on her phone! It gets a bit technical, but we’re sure you can keep up ;-)

Sheila also tells us about how another woman photographer helped her find her own potential and inspired her work today.

Laura tells us about how Umm Kulthum: The Star of the Orient. This Egyptian singer became the voice of a nation, rising from conservative roots in 1920s Egypt to sing and speak to the hearts of the country’s people. Laura reveres how this musician used her art to enact political change.

Sheila’s inspirational woman is Christina Broom who captured Edwardian London with her camera and tripod to earn money whilst her husband was unable to work. She photographed soldiers leaving Waterloo station for the front during the First World War, captured stunning photographs of the suffragettes eye to eye as well as royalty, cavalry and historical events, creating pictures that transcend time.

Follow our guests:

Laura el-Tantawy

http://lauraeltantawy.com

@laura_el_tantawy on Instagram

Sheila Burnett

https://www.sheilaburnett-headshots.com

@sheilabphoto on Twitter

@periodspodcast

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Movement, performance and following your flow - that’s what today’s episode is all about. Sam’s joined by director and choreographer to the stars Alexandra Green and broadcaster, burlesque performer and drag performer Wayne Carter.

And it's a 20th Century period with today's inspiring women: Katherine Dunham and Marsha P Johnson

Alexandra: "Everything that we are is movement”

Wayne: “These are the people that paved the way to make us as free and comfortable as we can be”

Alexandra explains how she loves to work daily with dancers to coach and coax confidence out of them and help their talent grow. Ali also has some showbizzy credits working on music videos and in film with stars like Jess Glynne, Emeli Sande and Stormzy. 

She’s picked Katherine Dunham as her inspirational woman from a list of incredible dance mothers. This anthropologist, dancer, author, scholar and activist has been described as a one-woman revolution. Born in Chicago in the early 20th Century, she lived as a catalyst for change and used dance to challenge issues such as segregation, racism and treatment of refugees in the arts and beyond.

Wayne talks about using laughter to question the norm. Having started on stage in Australia, he moved to the UK and transitioned from stand-up comedy into his gender-bending drag.

They discuss how drag has moved towards the mainstream and how London helped Wayne expand his creative career on a new level. He picks Marsha P. Johnson, one of the first trans women present at the '69 Stonewall riots, as his inspiring woman. They question why this person and the role of trans women is often overlooked in historical accounts of society-shaping events such as Stonewall.

Wayne talks about the importance of remembering historical events such as Stonewall when enjoying the rallies, marches and cultures that are being experienced and celebrated by wider society today. We also find out about the importance of finding a safe space and community when overcoming challenges of depression and anxiety.

The guys also cover seeking identity and gender through movement and why we need to get past tired gender stereotypes!

Follow our guests:

Alexandra Green

http://www.alexandragreendance.com

@alexandragreendance on Facebook

@allygreendance on Twitter and Instagram

Wayne Carter

@1waynecarter on Twitter

@drivingyouhomopodcast

Driving you Homo podcast

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/driving-you-homo/id1306391887?mt=2

@periodspodcast

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It’s the political one. Samantha’s chatting to the Deputy Leader of the Green Party, Amelia Womack, who was the youngest elected deputy leader in any UK political party when she was elected aged 29. They’re joined in the studio by Chloe Green, a political comedian who also works in politics and runs a monthly comedy night for the brightest queer comedians.

Top quotes:

Chloe: “I was a trending topic by accident. These days I’d kill to trend”

Amelia: “I see young people at the centre of demonstrations and activism and the ballot box is just one part of that"

Amelia talks about her route from rocks to rocking the commons, shares a 'lovely' story about whips, and tells us why she picked Amelia Earhart as her historical woman of note.

Chloe tells us how a random interaction with David Cameron threw her into politics. She also tells us about some of the most unimaginative sexist heckles she’s heard, and why she’s providing a platform for under-represented comedy talent in London. She picks Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cells were immortalised for some of the most important research in medical history. But they were taken without her consent.

Follow our guests:

Chloe Green is a comedian based in London

@lolwordcomedy has just appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe

@_chloe_green_ on Twitter

Amelia Womack is deputy leader of the Green Party

Twitter @Amelia_Womack

Instagram @greenameliawomack 

www.ameliawomack.co.uk

@periodspodcast

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Well done on getting Periods! In the first episode Samantha hears about two incredible sportswomen who have NO shortage of balls.

Atlantic rower and adventurer Sally Kettle and Hollywood stunt woman and clay shooter Amanda Foster share their stories and historical heroines.

Top quotes:

Amanda: “Creativity is like food for me”

Sally: “I have a 'no failure' policy… well I did at the time anyway!"

Amanda shares her stories of martial arts, motorcycles, hang gliding and car stunts. They talk about who doubled Grace Jones and what it’s like lying on top of ‘good boy’ Brad Pitt. Amanda is looking for the next challenge in clay pigeon shooting for the country! Sponsors sign up here!

Sally tells us about rowing the Atlantic twice, making it into the Guinness Book of World Records, shark attacks with an all-woman team, and re-inventing as an inspirational speaker. She tells how 106 days at sea with her mum was an experience she will always treasure, even though they had to go to the loo in a bucket.

Our guests choose women whose periods were in sync, being born just 4 years apart!

Amanda picks sharpshooter Annie Oakley, who learned to shoot by following her dad on hunts and ended up a household name.

Sally picks Nellie Bly, the American journalist who set out to travel the world in 80 days with one dress and a bag of gold coins around her neck. When she got home she did a landmark expose on asylum conditions as an undercover journalist.

Legends all round.

Follow our guests:

Amanda Foster - Stuntwoman, Director, Actor

http://www.amandafoster.me

https://twitter.com/amanda30af?lang=en

Twitter @Amanda30af

Watch Amanda in No.7’s advert

http://www.davidreviews.tv/Work/Boots_No_7_Amanda_Foster/

Sally Kettle - Adventurer, Speaker, Rower

www.sallykettle.com

@sallykettle instagram and Twitter

Sally features in the exhibition 'First Women’ at London’s Dyson Gallery until the 22nd August

https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/anita-corbin-first-women-uk/

@periodspodcast

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Welcome to Periods! What it is? Why should you listen? Find out now! Comedian Samantha Baines and guests celebrate amazing women in history. Each episode features incredible women joining Sam to share their achievements and experiences and talk about the heroines that inspired them to succeed. From topics serious to silly, subscribe for your weekly, no holds-barred chat between awesome wo-men (which are the same as men, just with a little more 'wooo') every Thursday.

Follow us on @periodspodcast

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And find out how to get in touch at podcastpioneers.com

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