As part of the Evening Standard’s International Women’s Day podcast special series, we’re joined by Ann McNeill, professor of tobacco addiction at King’s College London.

Professor McNeill is also vice-dean of culture, diversity and inclusion at the university’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience.

She discusses how family experiences inspired a focus on harm from smoking, succeeding in male-dominated academia and how her team’s pioneering research led to an overhaul for cigarette shop displays in UK shops.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What London’s new clean air plan means for your lungs and pocket

As Mayor Sadiq Khan announces plans to expand the capital’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone by the end of the 2023, we speak to Dr Gary Fuller, an air pollution scientist at Imperial College London, who runs the pollution-mapping Londonair website.

Dr Fuller looks at how the existing scheme in central London is working out, and discusses the increase in toxic air as post-Covid commuters return to work.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain’s London social centre has been transformed into an aid logistics HQ.

Volunteers collate donated critical supplies for lorry dispatch to the war zone.

Painkillers, tourniquets, torches, helmets and new socks are among critical items needed.

We speak with AUGB members Vlodko Pawluk and Iryna Terlecky about how Russia’s brutal invasion has galvanised the capital to help the massive aid effort.

To donate to the Standard’s Ukraine appeal, please visit: gofundme.com/eveningstandardukraineappeal

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To mark International Women’s Day 2022, the Evening Standard and the London Press Club hosted one of four panels of leading women in the UK to discuss issues surrounding female empowerment. The panel was led by former BBC Radio Four producer, Carole Stone.

The London panel, themed “Women as Catalysts for Resilience, Diversity & Change”, discussed gender diversity, inclusion and open communication in the workplace.

Guests from our own newsroom included columnist Nimco Ali, Dawn Alford, executive director of the Society of editors, Press Club young journalist of the year winner Abbianca Makoni, and the Evening Standard’s Chief Content Officer Anna Van Praag.

Other panels took place simultaneously in Zagreb, Karachi, Beirut, Nairobi, Amman and Dubai.

The events were organised by Elizabeth Fillipouli, founder of the Athena40 forum. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Debbie Wosskow OBE is a business leader on a mission to support more female entrepreneurs.

The founder of Love Home Swap, which she sold for around £40 million, has been working hard on her Allbright community, providing help to women trying to get ahead in their field.

In this show, she reveals the shockingly low amount of capital investment given to women, the barriers some face when trying to start-up a company, and gives her own advice to budding CEOs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than 1.7 people have been displaced from their homes in Ukraine since Russia invaded - that’s the equivalent of emptying London’s five biggest boroughs.

We’re joined by Dr Agnieszka Kubal, a sociology lecturer and a migration law expert at UCL’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies, whose mother is also among Polish households opening their family homes to help refugees.

Dr Kubal examines UK government strategy to cope with the growing humanitarianism crisis, and whether enough is being done to stop the most vulnerable refugees from falling prey to people traffickers.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Des Gunewardena teamed up with Sir Terence Conran to open up a restaurant in London, people told them they were “totally, totally stupid”. What does a “finance guy and a designer” know about the hospitality trade?

Today, the company that evolved from that partnership, D and D restaurants, operates more than 40 establishments in London, Paris and New York.

In this episode, Des tells us they set up a restaurant because Terence was fed up with France having better ones than Britain, and how they became so popular he read one woman had to change her own kitchen décor because someone said “it looked like a Conran restaurant, and she was very upset”.

He also reveals his top tips for business, including advice for people venturing into the restaurant trade following two years of turmoil thanks to the coronavirus pandemic... and what he thinks of the UK government’s support for hospitality. 

You can hear the full interview over on our An Invitation to Meet... channel HERE.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia has taken over another nuclear facility in Ukraine, after shelling the site on Thursday night.

The attack of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been condemned worldwide, with reports that the attack continued even as emergency services tried to put out the resulting fire.

In response, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Authority Rafael Grossi, is planning to travel to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to negotiate with the Ukrainians and the Russians to uphold the principles of nuclear safety.

Malcolm Grimston, a Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College London’s Centre for Energy Policy and Technology discusses the risk associated with Russia's attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and why they have taken over the site.

You can find our Ukraine fundraiser here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Russia continues to be hit with economic sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, the world’s top tech firms are also taking action to try to end the conflict.

Apple has blocked its contactless payment system in Russia, Google has disabled its map traffic data in Ukraine to protect citizens, and Facebook owner Meta has set up a special team to tackle misinformation on social media.

But what impact will these actions have? And how much responsibility falls on tech firms to act during international conflicts?

Senior tech reporter at Insider Isobel Hamilton discusses the actions being taken, what more tech firms can do, and what might happen next.

You can find our Ukraine fundraiser here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As war rages on in Ukraine, the civilian death toll in the country has reportedly reached more than 2,000.

On day seven of the Russian invasion, strikes on Kharkiv have killed at least four people.

Russia claims it has taken control of the city of Kherson, which the UK and Ukraine have denied.

We speak with Hussain, a Kherson resident who moved to the city in 2020 with his wife and young daughter.

He describes what the situation is like in the city, and his worry that he won’t be able to feed his family.

You can find our Ukraine fundraiser here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.