Woman's Hour

Woman's Hour

By BBC Radio 4Society & Culture
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Woman's Hour episodes

  • Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emetophobia, a Perfect Winter Salad

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge, famous for Fleabag and Killing Eve, is on the programme.

    We hear why the fear of being sick or hearing others be sick affects more women than men. It's called emetophobia and someone who suffers from it explains what it's like. Professor David Veale, a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, joins us too.

    Islamic faith marriages aren’t valid under English law according to a recent Court of Appeal ruling. Now campaigners are worried that thousands of Muslim women have no rights if they divorce. We hear from Somiya who had to persuade her husband to marry her officially and Pragna Patel from Southall Black Sisters.

    An all-female team of investigative journalists from the 50-50 team at Open Democracy carried out an investigation into crisis pregnancy centres in 18 countries. Nandini Archer, the assistant editor, tells what they found out.

    We cook the perfect winter salad of red leaves, mackeral and orange with the food writer Catherine Phipps.

    And Tilda Offen, Harriet Adams and Ellie Welling, friends of 17 year old Ellie Gould who was murdered last year, tell us why they want self-defence classes to be part of the national curriculum.

    Presented by: Jane Garvey

    Produced by: Rabeka Nurmahomed
    Editor: Siobhann Tighe

    57 min
  • Phoebe Waller-Bridge

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the award-winning writer and creator of Fleabag, tells Jenni Murray about all things Fleabag: from celibacy, religion and sexual fluidity to the relationship between feminism and breast size, and of course the ‘Hot Priest’.

    Plus insight into the characters from Killing Eve, behind the scenes working on the new Bond film and how friends can be the greatest love story of your life.
    After the first season of Fleabag aired on the BBC in 2016, Phoebe brought us more complex and unpredictable female characters with her hit TV drama Killing Eve. In 2019 the second series of Fleabag won her critical acclaim in the US as well as the UK, including a handful of Emmys and a multi-million pound producing deal, and now a book Fleabag: The Scriptures.

    So how has she handled such an extraordinary run of success? And what difference has her work made to the way we see women on TV?

    Presenter: Jenni Murray

    Producer: Helen Fitzhenry
    Interviewed guest: Phoebe Waller-Bridge

    43 min
  • Trouser Suits, Family Secrets, Bishop Cherry Vann

    The trouser suit: powerful in its own right or just a copy-cat of a man's? The fashion historian, Lydia Edwards, has a new book out called How to Read a Suit. She discusses when they became fashionable for women and if we'll still be wearing them in the future.

    We talk to Cherry Vann, the new Bishop of Monmouth. She's the first openly gay woman bishop in the UK, as well as the first bishop - male or female - to be in a civil partnership. She officially became bishop this month but just beforehand, and quite unconnected to her appointment, the Church of England issued a statement suggesting sex belongs only in heterosexual marriage. So how did that affect her and what message does she think it sends to Anglican LGBT members.

    Winter salad and a Pear and Rosemary Upside Down cake is on the menu in our latest Cook The Perfect ...

    And we've got Part Two of real life family secrets. Who are Sarah's birth parents?

    47 min
  • Family Secrets: Sarah and a secret revealed by a DNA test

    Sue Black, Women’s Equality Party candidate, joins Jenni to discuss why she has stepped down from the London mayoral race because of complications with her vaginal mesh implant.

    Flood warnings have been issued across the UK from Doncaster to Wales and more flooding is expected. Hundreds of properties have been affected and families evacuated. How are people on the ground coping? And what are communities doing to help each other? We hear from two women in Wales - Vicki Plumber Leclerc, who’s had to evacuate her home in Aberdulais with her two young kids and Tina Rankin who is running the emergency effort at her local church in Pontypridd

    Family Secrets - In most families there are things which don’t get talked about and the silences are often rooted in shame and in fear. In a new series of Family Secrets Sarah tells her story. She contacted Woman’s Hour because she wanted to talk about a family secret that she has only recently discovered at the age of 44.

    And an all-female team of investigative journalists from the 50-50 team at Open Democracy looked at a US backed network of crisis pregnancy centres in 18 countries. They say these were not the neutral counselling centres that they at first appeared to be. Undercover reporters who presented as women with unwanted pregnancies described being told that abortion increases the risks of physical and mental illness, that hospitals wouldn’t treat medical complications of abortion – and that women, even those who had been raped, would require the man’s consent. Nandini Archer, assistant editor of the 50-50 project explains how they worked over eighteen months and what they’ve found.

    Presenter: Jenni Murray

    Producer: Caroline Donne
    Interviewed guest: Sue Black
    Interviewed guest: Vicki Plumber Leclerc
    Interviewed guest: Tina Rankin
    Interviewed guest: Nandini Archer

    43 min
  • Parenting: How do you cope with fear of vomiting?

    Does your fear of vomiting make parenting a challenge? Emetophobia, a fear of vomiting, is a relatively common but under-researched psychological disorder that mostly affects women. We speak with Lucy Burton, who’s been coping with emetophobia for most of her life, and is the mother of two young children. And Professor David Veale, a consultant psychiatrist at Maudsley hospital, which has a specialist centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma.

    11 min
  • Daisy May Cooper, Self-defence in schools, Fear of vomiting, The High Table

    Daisy May Cooper is one half of the sibling duo behind award winning BBC Three comedy This Country which returned for its third and final season on Monday. Daisy plays Kerry Mucklowe alongside her brother Charlie as ‘Kurtan’, two twenty-something cousins who are stuck in their tiny Cotswold village. Their lives revolve around local scarecrow competitions, terrorising neighbours and football training with the friendly local vicar. Daisy joins Jane to discuss the new series, accepting a BAFTA wearing a bin bag and dealing with the real life death of character and friend Sluggs.

    Do you fear being sick? Do you fear seeing or hearing others vomit? Do you take significant steps to minimize the risk of catching a sickness bug, which have interfered with your daily life? If you’ve answered yes to most of these questions, then you might be emetophobic. Emetophobia - a fear of vomiting - is a relatively common but under-researched psychological disorder that mostly affects women. Lucy Burton is one such woman and has been coping with emetophobia for most of her life. Jane also speaks to emetophobia expert Professor David Veale, a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley hospital in London.

    Ellie Gould was just 17. She had her whole life ahead of her. But last May she was killed by Thomas Griffiths who was once her boyfriend. He was also 17 and pleaded guilty to her murder. Now three of her closest friends want self-defence classes to be part of the national curriculum. They believe that if Ellie had some techniques to protect herself she may still be alive. Tilda Offen, Harriet Adams and Ellie Welling talk to Jane Garvey about what they’re doing for their friend.

    Every family has their complications - but for Leah, this might be the breaking point. It’s time to tell her traditional Nigerian parents that she is getting married to another woman. A new play - The High Table - explores family tradition, love and trauma. We meet the writer Temi Wilkey.

    Presenter - Jane Garvey

    Producer - Anna Lacey

    Guest - Daisy May Cooper

    Guest - David Veale
    Guest - Lucy Burton
    Guest - Temi Wilkey
    Guest - Ellie Welling
    Guest - Tilda Offen
    Guest - Harriet Adams

    49 min
  • Choreographer Cathy Marston & 'The Cellist', her new ballet inspired by Jacqueline du Pre

    A new ballet 'The Cellist' opens tonight at the Royal Opera House in London. It’s inspired by the life and work of the British cellist, Jacqueline du Pré. It portrays the highs and lows of the virtuoso’s life after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, aged 28. Its choreographer, Cathy Marston, talks to Jane Garvey about why it was such a personal project for her.

    Journalist and novelist, Joan Smith discusses the death of Caroline Flack, the CPS decision to prosecute her, and what impact have the findings of the Levenson inquiry really had?

    If you’re someone who follows the various targets on climate change, then the year 2050 is surely on your radar. It’s the very latest date scientists agree the world needs to be carbon neutral by in order to avoid life-changing and irreversible damage to the planet. A mere 30 years away – a lot of radical change needs to happen in the next TEN years to make that 2050 target feasible. Christiana Figueres has co-authored a book called ‘The Future We Choose’. It details positive action we can all take – and also specifically as women – to help us reach that 2050 target.

    Friday’s Court of Appeal ruling says under English marriage law Islamic marriage is an "invalid" non-legal ceremony. What are the consequences of that decision for thousands of Muslim women? Director of Southall Black Sisters, Pragna Patel, explains.

    Presenter: Jane Garvey

    Producer: Kirsty Starkey

    Interviewed Guest: Joan Smith

    Interviewed Guest: Cathy Marston
    Interviewed Guest: Christiana Figueres
    Interviewed Guest: Pragna Patel

    48 min
  • Anya Taylor-Joy on playing Emma. Dirty Mother Pukka on where's my happy ending? Plus A Curious History of Sex

    Emma is one of the most adapted books by Jane Austen. It returns to the big screen this week. We hear from the director Autumn De Wilde and Anya Taylor-Joy who plays Emma.

    Yvette Cooper the Labour MP talks about the increasing number of violent threats being made to her and other MP’s. She tells us why she wants political parties to draw up a new joint code of conduct against intimidation.

    Anna Whitehouse and Matt Farquharson the duo behind the comedy podcast Dirty Mother Pukka discuss the trials, tribulations and rewards of relationships and family life.

    Two casting directors, who have just won awards from the Casting Directors Guild for their work; Lauren Evans, for the first series of Sex Education and Isabella Odoffin, for Small Island on stage last year at the National Theatre in London. Why has the role of casting been so undervalued?

    We discuss the impact of loneliness with Baroness Diana Barran the Minister for Lonelines, Bethan Harris creator of the Loneliness Lab, Professor of Pyschology at the University of Manchester Pamela Qualter and Kim Leadbetter the Ambassodor of the Jo Cox Foundation.

    And we hear from Dr Kate Lister who set up the Whore of Yore project in 2015 with the aim of starting a conversation about the history of sex. She has now written a book, A Curious History of Sex in which she explores the strange and baffling things human beings have done over the centuries in pursuit and denial of sex.

    Presenter Jenni Murray.

    Producer Rabeka Nurmahomed
    Editor Beverley Purcell

    57 min
  • Chivalry, Sex, 90s Teenagers

    Is chivalry dead? What is chivalry these days? Is it picking up the bill and opening a door? Is it just up to men or should women be chivalrous too? Podcaster and writer Tolly Shoneye talks about it with Amanda who's dating now.

    “To say that humans have overthought sex is something of an understatement.” That's according to Dr Kate Lister, a university lecturer who set up the Whore of Yore project in 2015. It tried to start a conversation about the history of sex. Her latest book is called A Curious History of Sex and in it she explores the strange and baffling things human beings have done over the centuries in pursuit and denial of sex.

    Sexual violence in literature: do we need to find the right language to talk about it properly? And how can reading classic novels like Samuel Richardson’s 18th century, ‘Pamela’, help us understand issues of consent better? Professor Rebecca Bullard and crime writer, Val McDermid join me to discuss.

    Were you a teenager in the 90s? Went to raves and house parties? We've been delving into archives of the The Museum of Youth Culture. They've got a touring exhibition called “Grown Up in Britain” which is showcasing objects from teenage culture through the decades. Today we hear from Molly, who was part of the party scene in 90s London.

    47 min
  • Casting directors, the Equal Pay Act at 50, Shohreh Bayat

    This is the first year Bafta has included a casting category, but still none exists within the Oscars. Jenni speaks to two casting directors, who have just won awards from the Casting Directors Guild for their work: Lauren Evans, for the first series of Sex Education and Isabella Odoffin, for Small Island on stage last year at the National Theatre in London. Why has the role of casting been so undervalued?

    Shohreh Bayat is a chess adjudicator. Last month she was working in Shanghai and photos were circulated of her appearing not to have a headscarf on. For an Iranian woman, even though you’re outside of the country, it’s still mandatory to wear a headscarf. She says she was wearing one, but it was hard to see in the photo. She updates us on her situation.

    The Equal Pay Act (1970) was successfully steered by through parliament by Barbara Castle and became the first piece of UK legislation to enshrine the right to pay equality between women and men. Jenni discusses how it happened and why the aim of paying men and women equally proved harder to achieve in practice with political journalist, Julia Langdon and Sarah Veale, former head of Equality and Employment Rights at the TUC.

    What was it like growing up in the 1980s? The Museum of Youth Culture is currently touring their exhibition “Grown Up in Britain”, which showcases artefacts from teen culture throughout the decades. Today, we hear from Mel, who was a teenage goth in North-East England in the 1980s.

    Presenter: Jenni Murray

    Producer: Ruth Watts

    46 min

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