Woman's Hour

There's to be an inquiry into the Covid pandemic. It will start in Spring next year. We speak to one of the women who's been pushing for it, but still thinking it's starting too late. Her name is Jean Adamson from the Covid-19 Bereaved families For Justice.

Scarlett Moffatt, famous for Gogglebox and winning I'm A Celebrity ... has just become an ambassador for The Samaritans. She talks to Woman's Hour about how reality television has affected her mental health, and exchanges experiences with Montana Brown who appeared on Love Island. One of the things they talk about is whether reality TV does enough to support young women who choose to go on these shows.

Patricia Devlin is a crime journalist in Northern Ireland. She specialises in investigating paramilitary criminal activity. Because of her work, Patricia has suffered continuous threats to her life but now her baby son has been targeted for the second time. She tells us how she's coping and how she wants the PSNI to take these threats more seriously.

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. AI is playing a part in how we all work, live and play. But there are worries that because AI algorithms are created from the data we give it, biases in society will be replicated and even amplified by it in the future. Both the The European Union and the UK government are working on strategies to address this. Emma talks to the tech entrepreneur Tabitha Goldstaub who Chairs the UK's AI Council and to Carly Kind the Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute.

A total of 65 women have been into space - compared with 501 men. The last time the European Space Agency recruited for their Class of 2009, only 16% of applications came from women. That process led to Just one - Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy - being chosen. In a break from training for a 2022 mission to the International Space Station, Samantha joins Emma to discuss why so few women apply to be astronauts, the skills needed to make it in space, and how women can put themselves forward for ESA's latest recruitment drive.

Jackie Weaver of local council zoom meeting fame talks about her night at the BRITS.

Our series Second Chances continues. This time we hear how a mother's addiction and domestic violence are often factors in a child's removal. The reporter and DJ Milly Chowles became a mum last year, she’s in long term recovery from addiction and had lots of chances to change. Having a baby after getting into recovery made her realise that other mothers aren't getting the help they need or that they just aren't able to take it when it's offered.

Presenter: Emma Barnett

'We need to dismantle the patriarchy' is a familiar feminist rallying cry. But Egyptian-American writer and activist Mona Eltahawy believes we should stop just saying it, and start actively defying and disrupting the patriarchy now - with force if necessary. Mona's latest book is The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls. She joins Emma to explain why she wrote it with enough 'rage to fuel a rocket.'

In a recent article, writer and travel editor at the Independent, Cathy Adams said she wished the phrase 'I sometimes resent my baby' went down better at the pub. She describes imagining an alternate life without her son at the centre, and how thirteen months after her son's birth she's still struggling to articulate her feelings because of the lack of language surrounding maternal ambivalence. Cathy joins Emma - along with Amy Brown, a Professor of Child Public Health - to discuss these conflicting emotions and why we find it so hard to openly talk about the challenges of being a parent.

In Thursday’s Elections in Wales Natasha Asghar made history by becoming the first woman from a Black or Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) background to be elected to the Welsh Senedd. She’ll represent South Wales East for the Tories – a seat held by her dad until his death last year. However the overall number of women elected was down on the last Election. Emma talks to Natasha about what the victory means to her and how she feels about following in her father’s footsteps. Plus Jess Blair from the Electoral Reform Society Wales tells us why more needs to be done to make sure that we see more women coming through.

How domestic workers in the Middle East are using the video sharing app TikTok to raise awareness of abuse. Louise Donovan from the Fuller Project tells us how she found these women and why they are turning to TikTok.

Dodie has just released her debut album Build A Problem. At just 26 she has already made a name for herself as a singer and a writer amassing millions of fans through her Youtube Channel with her intimate singing style and honest unflinching videos. She joins Emma to play a song from her new album.

Yolk & Aliens is a film project created and developed by four women including actor, Jane Horrocks and her daughter, musician, Molly Vivian. Set within what they call a 'personal memory shop' in central Brighton’s Dukes Lane, as part of this year’s Brighton Festival, it is a highly personal insight into families, love and memories. Several years in the making, the films explore multi-generational relationships between mother and daughter, Jane and Molly and between Jane and her mother, Barbara.

Tracey Emin was one of the leading figures of the Young British Artists movement of the 1990s. She has recently undergone radical surgery to treat bladder cancer. For her latest exhibition - The Loneliness of the Soul – she has selected masterpieces by Edvard Munch to show alongside her most recent paintings.

Mental health blogger and author of ‘F**K I Think I'm Dying: How I learned to live with panic’, Claire Eastham explains how she manages her panic attacks. She is joined by psychotherapist Dawn Estefan to discuss why we have panic attacks, how they feel and how best to cope with them.

Whether you’re an experienced cyclist or if you're completely new to cycling, there's no doubt it's intimidating on the roads. Cycling expert, Aneela McKenna shares tips for how women can feel more confident while riding their bikes on the road.

Rosie Ayliffe’s daughter, Mia Ayliffe Chung was killed in 2016 at a remote farmworkers’ hostel while backpacking in Australia. Since Mia's death Rosie has been campaigning to improve conditions for young casual workers, helping to change the law in three of the six states of Australia.

What's behind the decline in male fertility? The global population currently stands at 7.9 billion, and is projected to peak at 9.7 billion in just over 40 years' time. Those huge numbers are often blamed on women having too many children. In reality, fertility has been in long-term decline for decades. Dr Shanna Swan, Professor of Environmental Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York thinks we should be paying much more attention to the chemicals in our environment that come from everyday products as her research is showing consistent effects on sperm counts, sperm quality and overall male fertility.

Susan Rogers talks about what it was like working with Prince as his sound engineer on albums including ‘Purple Rain, ‘Around the World in a Day and ‘Sign o’ the Times’. After two decades in the music industry she left and went on to earn a doctorate in psychology. She’s now a professor of music at Berkeley College in Boston, and is being awarded the Music Producers Guild’s ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’– the first woman to ever win the award.

Whether you’re an experienced cyclist or if you're completely new to cycling, there's no doubt it's intimidating on the roads. Cycling expert Aneela McKenna shares tips for how women can feel more confident when riding their bikes.

Presenter: Anita Rani

India remains in the grip of a Covid crisis with record numbers of cases being reported every day. Oxygen and vaccines are running out and hospitals are overwhelmed. Save The Children has warned it could be facing thousands of additional deaths among children under five and an increase in maternal deaths, as hospitals and clinics are directing most of its staff and medicines to coping with Covid-19 patients. We hear from Dr Rajesh Khanna about the work he is doing to help women and children access vital healthcare. And here in the UK thousands of people continue to worry about the safety and well-being of their loved ones in India. Surya Elango a community reporter at BBC Radio Sheffield joins Anita to share those broader concerns and also the story of her own mother who has been in India since December looking after her elderly parent.

Susan Rogers tells us what it was like working with the 80s pop artist Prince as his sound engineer on albums including ‘Purple Rain, ‘Around the World in a Day and ‘Sign o’ the Times’. After two decades in the music industry Susan Rogers left and went on to earn a doctorate in psychology. She’s now a professor of music at Berklee College in Boston, and is being awarded the Music Producers Guild’s ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’– the first woman to ever win the award.

‘Careless’ is the debut novel by Kirsty Capes and tells the story of Bess a girl in foster care and looks at the treatment of girls in the care system. Kirsty Capes was herself a care leaver and tells us about her PHD which examines the representation of care experienced children in contemporary fiction. She explains why she would like to see better portrayal in the media of people growing up in care and what it was like working under the supervision of Booker prize winning author Bernadine Evaristo.

Presenter: Anita Rani

In 2016 Mia Ayliffe Chung was killed at a remote farmworkers’ hostel while backpacking in Australia. What she didn’t realise at the time and what her mum Rosie Ayliffe later discovered was backpackers like Mia were exposed to widespread exploitation including sexual harassment, inadequate health and safety and substandard living conditions. Since Mia's death Rosie has been campaigning to improve conditions for young casual workers, helping to change the law in three of the six states of Australia. She has written a book about Mia called Far From Home.

Anya Hindmarch is an entrepreneur, a global business woman, mother of five and a stepmother. Now she's turned 50 she's turned her hand to writing - putting together A Manual for Life with the very tongue in cheek title "If In Doubt Wash Your Hair".

In the UK now more than a third (34.3%) of FTSE 350 board positions are now held by women. But what do boards do? And how can you get on one? To discuss these questions Emma is joined by Dambisa Moyo, renowned economist, named as one of Time Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People in the World and author of a new book How Boards Work; and Fiona Hathorn, CEO of Women on Boards UK.

As of Tuesday this week residents leaving their care home to go for a walk or to visit a loved one’s garden no longer have to isolate for two weeks on their return. But actor Ruthie Henshall is concerned about the potential ‘grey area’ around this relaxation of the rules which could continue to limit some families’ access. Ruthie, along with the group Rights for Residents, has delivered a petition with 300,000 signatures to the House of Commons. She explains her concerns and what she would like the government to do.

Presented by Emma Barnett

Tracey Emin was one of the leading figures of the Young British Artists movement of the 1990s. Hers is a uniquely provocative, confessional style which confronts issues such as trauma of abortion, rape, alcoholism and sexual history. Her famous artworks include: Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 and she came to greater prominence in 1999 with a Turner Prize nomination for her famous piece My Bed. One of her most powerful works is a hand-crafted quilt called Psycho Slut, with texts that recall her childhood abuse and personal trauma. She has recently undergone radical surgery for bladder cancer. Tracey joins Emma to discuss her latest exhibition - The Loneliness of the Soul – for which she has selected masterpieces by Edvard Munch to show alongside her most recent paintings.

Last weekend the first nightclub event in the UK for over a year took place in Liverpool - with no social distancing or face coverings required. This was part of a trial to provide key scientific data on how clubbing events could safely reopen as part of the government's roadmap, which aims for all restrictions lifted by June 21. But could this be a fresh start and a chance to re-imagine how nightlife could be reopened in a way that makes women feel safer? Although clubs can be places where women have a lot of fun and let their hair down, we also know they can be intimidating spaces. Bryony Beynon is the Managing Director of the Good Night Out Campaign, Alice Fuller is the manager and co-ordinator of Corsica studios at Elephant and Castle in London and Jess Flaherty is a reporter for the Liverpool Echo who actually went clubbing last weekend.

How can you better communicate with your child, whatever their age, to help ensure they have good future mental health? The broadcaster and author of 'There’s no such thing as Naughty’ Kate Silverton, and Dr Sheila Redfern from the Anna Freud Centre discuss.

Fertility rates around the world are declining. It's partly through choice, as couples decide to have smaller families. But it's also the case that sperm levels among men in Western countries have halved in the past 40 years. . So what's going on? Shanna Swan, a Professor of Environmental Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York thinks we should be paying much more attention to the chemicals in our environment that come from everyday products - as her research is showing consistent effects on sperm counts, sperm quality and overall male fertility. She joins Emma to talk the chemicals we should be aware of, the effect they're having, and what we can do about it.

From today, mothers' names and occupations will finally be featured alongside fathers' details on marriage certificates in England and Wales, thanks to years of campaigning both inside and outside of parliament. But let's not forget the woman who made it happen. Ailsa Burkimsher Sadler started the campaign for change back in 2013.

Caroline Norton was a woman at the centre of one of the most highly publicised court cases in 19th century Britain. Her determination to fight for custody of her children and the rights to her own income and property had far-reaching ramifications, with the first ever pieces of feminist legislation arising as a direct result of her campaigning, the Infant Custody Act of 1839. She has been celebrated with a heritage blue plaque being placed on her London home. Lady Antonia Fraser unveiled the plaque, and has written a biography of Caroline Norton called ‘The Case of the Married Woman.’

Have you always wanted to get on a bike, but something is holding you back? This is the programme for you, presented by Melanie Abbott. If you're completely new to cycling, there's no doubt it's intimidating on the roads. It's definitely worth sharpening up your road sense and many local councils now offer bike training courses. In East London, Bikeworks run cycling for wellbeing sessions for women returning to their bikes, after a long break. Melanie goes out with a group who've been cycling together now for a few weeks.

Cycling is still, predominantly a male, middle class sport. Getting more women involved isn't easy, especially for women of colour. British Cycling, which covers everything from elite sport to grass roots, has set up its first ever diversity programme. and will be publishing its strategy in the coming months. Aneela McKenna is co chair of their diversity and inclusion advisory group. She joins Melanie along with Iffat Tejani, founder of Evolve, a cycling club for Muslim women and Victoria Hazael from the charity Cycling UK, who is a trustee of the Women of Colour in Cycling Collective.

Many disabled women find accessing sport particularly difficult and cycling can seem completely off limits and/or too expensive. But there are inclusive cycle groups all over the country offering weekly sessions on a huge range of adapted bikes. Others arrange rentals and ‘try before you buy’. Our Disability Affairs reporter Carolyn Atkinson goes to Herne Hill Velodrome in South London where a charity called Wheels for Wellbeing runs sessions for disabled cyclists.

Tracy Moseley has won countless mountain biking trophies, including the World Cup downhill in 2006. She officially retired six years ago, and had her little boy Toby three years ago. Like many keen cyclists who have children, life has changed a lot since then. Melanie gets her tips on teaching children to ride, and her views on racing with e-bikes.

Even if you are not entering races you may still be keen to "Strava your ride". It's one of the apps you can use to record your speeds and compare them with others. It's traditionally used by men, competing for the 'king of the mountain' crown, to be the fastest up a hill. But last year the company says there was a surge in the number of women using it and it seems they are just as keen to get a queen of the mountain accolade. Cyclist Sally Owens agreed to record her ride for us, up a tough hill near her home in Nottingham.