How can we help people with dementia? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women from Singapore and the UK about how they’ve adapted to living with the condition and why they now want to help others understand dementia better.

Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with young onset dementia at the age of 58. She wrote a bestselling memoir, Somebody I Used to Know about the slow realisation that she was changing, and the adaptations she needed to make to her life to cope. She's a vocal advocate for people with Alzheimer's and other dementia and promotes better understanding and care. Surprised by the lack of information available to her and her family, she's written a second book, What I Wish People Knew About Dementia.

Emily Ong is from East Malaysia but now lives in Singapore. She first noticed something was wrong when she forgot how to make French toast, but it took her years to get a proper diagnosis for young onset dementia. Now 54 years old, she advocates for greater understanding of the disease and belongs to the Voices for Hope programme, helping people who are newly diagnosed or already have dementia. She says it's rare for Asians to speak about dementia and it's important to be open and spread understanding.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Wendy Mitchell, credit Jo Hanley. (R) Emily Ong, credit Clara Tan/The Perfect Statement)

Of the many different items of clothing a woman will wear throughout her life, there is perhaps none loaded with so much significance as her wedding dress, and finding the perfect one can be an enormous source of stress. Kim Chakanetsa meets two wedding designers who help women dial down that pressure by helping bring their bridal visions to life.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: wedding dresses, courtesy of Maison Yeya and Brides by Nona.)

It is estimated that one in four pregnancies will end in a miscarriage. But despite being a common occurrence, this topic is still shrouded in secrecy, stigma and shame. Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who are using their first-hand experience to help other people heal.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Paula Ávila-Guillen, credit Pablo Salgado. (R) Wanjiru Kihusa, courtesy Wanjiru Kihusa)

Dry stone walling is an ancient craft that goes back thousands of years and remains an important means of enclosing fields in rural areas of Europe, and of constructing terraces for agriculture in more mountainous regions. But it’s a craft, along with other countryside skills, that’s practiced by fewer people these days. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women from the US and Italy about their passion for building beautiful walls.

Serena Cattaneo is from Genoa Northern Italy where the walls helped establish terraces for olive and vine groves in the mountains. She started dry stone walling five years ago and now, as well as working restoring walls, she also teaches the skill at workshops. She’s passionate about the trade and keen to develop a women’s network as she’s yet to meet another female waller in Italy.

Whitney Brown was 26 years old when she met a dry stone waller at a festival in Washington, within weeks she was out on the hill with him in Wales wielding a hammer and learning everything she could about the craft. She’s since taken her skills back to the United States where she teaches others, but returns as often as she can to work in the UK.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Serena Cattaneo, credit Serena Cattaneo. (R) Whitney Brown, courtesy Whitney Brown. Background: wall in Sori, credit Serena Cattaneo.)

Mountain rescue volunteers are a rare breed: they’re on call 24/7, ready to risk their lives to save hikers and skiers who get stuck on the mountains. Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who lead perilous rescue missions in Canada and in the UK.

Kirsty Pallas is a mountaineering and climbing instructor based in Scotland. In 2014 she joined the Oban Mountain Rescue Team, where she’s a callout manager and a training officer. She’s also the founder of Our Shared Outdoors, an organisation set up to tackle and change the lack of diversity in the outdoors and promote underrepresented groups.

Kayla Brolly is an emergency room nurse and a crew member with North Shore Rescue, the busiest volunteer search and rescue organisation in Canada. She’s been involved in countless rescue operations in the popular hiking and skiing mountains north of Vancouver. In December 2017, whilst taking part in a delicate rescue mission on a steep slope, she suffered a severe head injury.

Produced by Alice Gioia for BBC World Service.

Men run most of world's cultural institutions, but in recent years more women have been given top jobs at leading galleries and museums. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women from Australia and Germany about the importance of getting a woman's view on what's worth displaying and history worth preserving.

Margot Neale Ngawagurrawa is an Aboriginal Australian curator and one of the world's leading experts on Aboriginal history and culture. She's Head Indigenous Curator at the National Museum Australia and has spent seven years bringing together historical and cultural stories of the Aboriginal peoples which till now have only existed in oral form. The resulting exhibition, Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters is now on a global tour – and in Plymouth, UK till the end of February 2022.

Dr Stephanie Rosenthal has been director of Gropius Bau in Berlin, Germany since 2018. She studied art history and her work since then has focused on contemporary art and performance. The Gropius Bau has recently tackled the subjects of humanity’s relationship to nature, exploitative extraction processes and ‘how plants practice politics’.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Stephanie Rosenthal, credit Mathias Voelzke. (R) Margot Neale Ngawagurrawa, courtesy Margot Neale Ngawagurrawa. Background: Maruku Arts by Niningka Lewis.)

Sound is everywhere around us: from blockbuster Hollywood films to live music events, from broadcasting the news to speaking with astronauts in space. For every broadcast, big or small, there are engineers and sound designers working behind the scenes to make sure you get the highest audio quality possible. Kim Chakanetsa explores the world of audio production with two of the best in this field.

Produced by Alice Gioia. Sound editing by Sue Maillot.

(Image: (L) Alexandria Perryman, credit Norah Moran/NASA. (R) Nina Hartstone, credit Getty Images. The background image is the waveform of the opening six seconds of an episode of The Conversation.)

Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women who are making chocolate production both more sustainable and equitable.

Produced by Emily Naylor and Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Vicki Bain. (R) Treena Tecson, courtesy of Treena Tecson.)

Very few people in the world are blessed with exceptional musical talent that is apparent from an early age. What is childhood like in the spotlight, especially as a young woman? To find out, Kim Chakanetsa meets two musicians whose careers began when they were children.

Produced by Emily Naylor and Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Tosin Jegede, credit Tosin Jegede. (R) Sujari Britt, credit Jamie Jung.)

Singing is said to improve your mood, relieve stress, help you sleep better and produce pain-relieving endorphins - as well as improving posture and boost immunity and lung function! Kim Chakanetsa finds out more about the benefits of singing together, and the strange world of choir competitions.

Adwoa Dickson is from Jamaica. She is Choir Director for The Amies Freedom Choir, in the UK, which supports women who've survived trafficking. Singing in the choir helps the women relax and regain confidence as they explore songs and musical styles from each others' cultures and languages.

Finnish choir director, Marjukka Riihimäki established the women’s choir, Philomela in 1984 and has taken their distinctive sound around the world, working with a composer and choreographer to give them a unique stage presence. Philomela won the Female Chamber Choir competition at the World Choir Games in Riga in 2014. Since retiring as a music teacher Marjukka also works with people in sheltered housing who have dementia.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Marjukka Riihimäki, credit Maarit Kytöharju. (R) Adwoa Dickson, courtesy Adwoa Dickson.)