What's life like when women are in charge? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who've formed close ties with matriarchal communities in China and India, and who've gone onto document their experiences.

Choo Waihong is a former high-flying lawyer from Singapore who quit her job to move to a remote part of China to live with the Mosuo tribe. This is one of the last matrilineal and matriarchal societies on earth. That means that the family descends from the female bloodline, and that women also hold the ultimate power in the community. Waihong ended up building a house among the Mosuo, and has written a book about her experiences called 'Kingdom of Women.'

Karolin Klüppel is a German photographer who travelled to the remote north-east of India to get to know the Khasi people, who live in families where women inherit property, and children take the mother's name. Karolin was struck by the self-confidence of the young girls, and she set about making portraits of the children, which form part of her photo series, 'Mädchenland' or 'Kingdom of Girls.'

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'I will ride cancer; cancer will not ride me'. An Indian dancer and a Jamaican athlete who were diagnosed with breast cancer at the peak of their physical condition tell Kim Chakanetsa how they got through their treatment by focussing on their passions.

Novlene Williams-Mills is an exceptional Jamaican sprinter who has competed - and won medals - in four Olympic Games. In 2012, just before the London Olympics, she found out she had breast cancer. Despite the diagnosis, she decided to compete, and helped Jamaica bring home a bronze medal in the 400 metre relay. Four surgeries later, she is cancer-free. Throughout her treatment Novlene continued to run because when she's on the track, she says all her problems disappear.

Ananda Shankar Jayant is an award-winning Indian dancer and choreographer, known for her talent in two classical dance forms Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She says as soon as she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, she made a decision that she would not succumb to the 'bogeyman' of cancer, and would keep dancing, even through chemotherapy. By focussing on her what she loves to do, she says she was able to stay positive. Now also all-clear, Ananda continues to teach and perform dance, and recently launched a dance app called Natyarambha.

L-Image: Novlene Williams-Mills. Credit: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

Female interpreters discuss being voices for vulnerable people. Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women, one who interprets for medical patients, and one who helps refugees apply for asylum. They talk about the pressures and the joys of what they say is an under-valued job.

Teodora Manea Hauskeller is a Romanian who works as a medical interpreter in the UK, easing understanding between doctors and patients who don't speak English. She is present in the room when potentially scary diagnoses are being given, and says the responsibility and emotion of this kind of work can be quite tough, but it can also be very rewarding.

Mariam Massarat is an Iranian-American interpreter, who specialises in translating for Farsi-speaking asylum seekers and refugees in the US. She gets to know her clients and puts them at their ease before they go into the asylum interview, and then she acts as their voice for up to six hours. If the interview is successful, and they are granted asylum, she loves to hear what they go on to do in their new lives.

Image: Mariam Massarat (L) and Teodora Manea Hauskeller (R)

How do you capture and bottle a scent? Two perfume makers from France and Malaysia talk to Kim Chakanetsa about how they've trained their noses to smell over 1,000 different raw ingredients. They explain why a scent made for the European market wouldn't sell so well in Japan, and which smells they simply cannot stand.

Shyamala Maisondieu is a fine fragrance perfumer originally from Malaysia, who now works for Givaudan in Paris, one of the world's largest perfume manufacturers. Shyamala says her childhood in south-east Asia influenced the scents she is drawn to, from frangipani blossoms to jasmine and ginger. She has dreamed up fragrances for brands such as Tom Ford and Comme des Garçons.

Caroline Gaillardot is a perfumer who specialises in creating scents for beauty care products, including shampoos, shower gels and deodorants. She was born in Grasse, France, which has long been the centre of the perfume world, although she says she wanted to become a perfumer simply because she always loved to smell. She now works for Mane in southern France, which is one of the global leaders in the industry.

L-Image and credit: Shyamala Maisondieu

What's it like to work closely with animals? Two women in charge of the day-to-day care of penguins and primates reveal the true nature of the job. They tell Kim Chakanetsa why it's best to avoid a penguin's beak, how chimps might respond to a leather jacket, and whether they think wild animals should be kept in captivity at all.

Shanet Rutgers has the delightful job title 'Head of Penguins' at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, South Africa. Shanet first visited the aquarium as a child, and decided straightaway that she wanted to work there. She fondly describes the penguins as 'ridiculous animals' - and says feeding them has made her more considerate about her own diet. Shanet is passionate about the role of zoos and aquariums in educating the public about the natural world.

Laura Hanley is Senior Keeper of Primates at Monarto Zoo in South Australia - one of the largest open-range zoos in the world. The animals are kept in large enclosures, and visitors are driven around the complex in vehicles. Laura is in charge of a troop of eight chimpanzees, each with its own distinct personality. Despite working closely with the chimps, Laura says its important to maintain your distance and keep a respect for the animals. She hopes they can play a role in raising awareness about the plight of chimps in the wild.

(L) Image: Shanet Rutgers, Head of Penguins. Credit: n/a

Two women lawyers in Alabama who are making history in the courtroom in their own ways. Kim Chakanetsa meets them inside the famous federal courthouse in Montgomery, where historic civil rights rulings were made in the 1950's and 60's.

At 28, Briana Westry-Robinson is Alabama's youngest ever female African-American judge. Graduating from high school at 16, and university at 19, Judge Westry-Robinson now presides over a district court in one of the poorest counties in Alabama. She says her age is an advantage in this job, because she can still identify with the juveniles who appear before her, and her aim where possible is to give them a second chance, rather than to punish.

Image: Danielle Ward Mason, presenter Kim Chakanetsa and Briana Westry-Robinson.

Two women who emigrated to the US from Asia and both became writers talk to guest presenter Lauren Schiller in San Francisco about their 'messy' relationship with language, their rejection of the American Dream, and how they're trying to break free from labels.

Barbara Jane Reyes is a poet, whose work explores language, culture and identity. She was born in Manila in the Philippines, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She started writing seriously as a student - when there were very few writers who were voicing her own immigrant experience. She now teaches Philippine Studies at the University of San Francisco and is the author of four books of poetry. She is due to publish her fifth collection, Invocation to Daughters, later this year.

Yiyun Li is an award-winning writer. She grew up in Beijing, and moved to the US when she was in her early 20s to study immunology. It was after she had arrived in Iowa and adopted English as her own language that she decided to make the leap from science to creative writing. She has published four works of fiction, and numerous essays. Her latest book is called 'Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life' and it was written while she grappled with depression and was finding solace in other writers. Yiyun teaches creative writing at UC Davis.

Image: Barbara Jane Reyes (left) (credit: Oscar Bermeo) and Yiyun Li (right) (credit: Roger Turesson)

LGBT women from different generations in San Francisco talk to guest presenter Lauren Schiller about their sexuality, the city and the changes they've seen in society over the years.

Kate Kendell has been described as America's 'Head Lesbian'. She is Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which fights for the legal rights of LGBT people. She grew up in a Mormon family in Utah, and says that when she moved to San Francisco in 1994 her life went 'from monochrome to Kodachrome.' Kate was heavily involved for the fight for equal marriage in California, and married her own long-time partner Sandy in 2008. They have three children.

Robyn Exton founded a dating app for lesbian, bisexual and queer women in London in 2013, but two years ago she relocated to San Francisco to be closer to her investors. She also relaunched the app under the name Her - and it's now available in 55 countries. For Robyn, San Francisco has much to offer as a tech hub, but less in terms of the nightlife and parties she enjoys. She says the city is no longer the gay mecca it once was - and she is sad about the demise of the lesbian bar.

Image: (L) Robyn Exton. Credit: Helena Price.

Two mothers who lost their sons to gun violence meet up with Kim Chakanetsa in New York. This is the first of a month-long series of Conversations with women in the United States, from Alabama to San Francisco.

Image: (L) Lucy McBath and (R) Nicole Hockley

Two women trying to get into the mind of the serial killer talk to Kim Chakanetsa about the craft of crime fiction. We hear what they're most afraid of, how writing about grim subjects has altered their outlook on life and whether women are particularly good at this genre.

Patricia Cornwell is probably the best known female crime writer in the world. Credited with creating the 'forensic thriller', Patricia has sold over 100 million books across the globe and recently published the 24th book in her hugely popular Kay Scarpetta series. Patricia has also long been fascinated by Jack the Ripper, the infamous Victorian serial killer, and has written her own account of his possible identity.

Angela Makholwa is a former South African journalist who first got into crime writing after interviewing the real-life serial killer, Moses Sithole, in prison. Her debut novel Red Ink was loosely based on those experiences. She says the role of the writer is to confront the things we all want to run away from. She has since written two more novels and says she enjoys reading crime fiction from Scandinavia, given that she writes about such a radically different part of the world. Angela lives and works in Johannesburg.

(L) Image: Patricia Cornwell. Credit: Patrick Ecclesine.