Woman's Hour

Monica Lewinsky is a name that most people will know. But for a whole new generation of women, including younger millennials who were children at the time, the details of US President Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and the 1998 impeachment proceedings it led to may be unfamiliar. Impeachment: American Crime Story on BBC Two, aims to reframe the Clinton scandal from t...

Women in the military are suffering serious long term physical and mental health problems because of widespread bullying and sexual harassment. Research by the University of Oxford, King’s College London and the charity Combat Stress found over 20% were sexually harassed, over 5% were sexually assaulted and over 20% were emotionally bullied. Laura Hendrikx, is the author of the study which was pub...

We talk to an Afghan family housed in one of the many hotels which have become home for thousands of others like them. Many families and children often struggle to exercise which has an impact on their physical and mental health. BBC producer Sue Mitchell a keen swimmer is working with them to enable them to be able to make use of hotel and local authority swimming pools to to help them while they...

Budget 2021: What do you want to change? We hear from Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director of the Women’s Budget group, an independent not-for-profit organisation that monitors the impact of government policies on men and women When you look back over your past relationships do you see patterns? Whether it’s being drawn to bad boys, ending up with narcissists or falling for someone who needs looking afte...

Last week, a whole new set of climate-related phrases entered the Oxford English Dictionary including global heating, eco-anxiety and net zero. But despite being increasingly used in conversation, do people really know what terms like 'net zero' mean - and what is the general public willing to do to get us there? Prof Becky Willis from Lancaster University set up a research project called the Net...

The former presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has a new book out, “State of Terror”, a political thriller written with the award winning author Louise Penny. The two women were already friends before deciding to pen the novel which features a President who “smells of meat” and appears to resemble Donald Trump and a British Prime Minister who’s “a twit” and seems to have a more than a pa...

The former presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has a new book out, “State of Terror”, a political thriller written with the award winning author Louise Penny. The two women were already friends before deciding to pen the novel which features a President who “smells of meat” and appears to resemble Donald Trump and a British Prime Minister who’s “a twit” and seems to have a more than a pa...

Over the summer it's been tempting to think that the pandemic is almost over. But last night, Health Secretary Savid Javid insisted that "life is not back to normal". 49,000 people tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday - levels we haven't seen since the end of last year - and he warned that they could hit 100,000 a day over winter. But despite all this, the government has decided not to implement...

Former Scottish Conservative leader – the recently ennobled Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links - will be giving her maiden speech in the House of Lords on Friday as part of a debate on assisted dying. She used to be against amending the law on assisted dying but had a change of heart last year. She explains why to Emma. The Home Secretary Priti Patel has requested an urgent update from the police f...

In our final discussion to mark our 75th anniversary we look at the issue of equal pay. This was identified as the area women most want to see change in their daily lives and 70% of those asked said they had experienced inequality in this area. Emma Barnett talks to Baroness Kishwer Falkner who’s head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission which regulates the Equality Act and also to Emma Sat...

According to a new survey on mental wellbeing in agriculture, 58% of women in farming experience anxiety compared to 44% of men. What's the reason behind it? How much impact has Brexit and the pandemic had on the problem? We discuss with Alicia Chivers, Chief Executive of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, and East Yorkshire pig farmer Kate Moore. Conservative MP Sir David Ames, who wa...

Cush Jumbo, star of The Good Wife and The Good Fight on her latest role playing Hamlet. Predatory marriage involves a vulnerable adult being led into a marriage, which financially benefits their new spouse. We hear from Daphne Franks, who believes that her mother was a victim of a predatory marriage. Your responses to our poll on equality in 2021. What's it like for tall women when it comes to dat...

The average height of a female in the UK is 5ft 3in. What is life like for women at the other end of the spectrum, especially when it comes to dating? Jessica Creighton is joined by the author of Get Real, Sarah Ivens, who at 6ft would be introduced to dates as 'Queen Kong' or 'Miss Stretchy', and married at 6 ft 3 in in a pair of diamanté heels; and Andrea Hubert, 6ft 1in whose creative comebacks...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has seven albums, five children, a podcast and her Live Kitchen Discos during lockdown were a means of virtual escapism for many, and became weekly moments of united sequined catharsis. She joins Emma to discuss her memoir Spinning Plates: Music, Men, Motherhood and Me. Claudia Webbe, a former Labour MP for Leicester East, who now sits as an independent, was found yesterday gui...

Who does what in your home? Sourcing school shoes? Calling the plumber? Sorting the threadworms? In her debut novel 'Are We Having Fun Yet?' author and columnist Lucy Mangan reveals the comic diary of Liz who is 'outwardly mute, inwardly mutinous' as she does her best to keep the domestic show on the road. In her new book Rough, Rachel Thompson looks at how violence has found its way into the bedr...

Radio DJ Emma Wilson believes that the policeman Wayne Couzens who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard exposed himself to her in an alleyway some 13 years ago. Emma reported it to the police at the time – no action was taken, but she has decided to speak out now because when she did report it she was not happy with the response. One of the key findings of our equality poll to mark our 75th...

To mark our 75th anniversary last week we commissioned a poll to explore how you feel about equality in 2021 and how much progress you believe women have made since the first episode of Woman’s Hour was broadcast in 1949 Over two thirds of the women we spoke to said it was down to experiences of sexual exploitation and abuse while three while three quarters put it down to inequality within their h...

Baroness Brenda Hale is a former judge who served as the first female president of the Supreme Court. She has written a book, Spider Woman, that spans her life and work. We hear from Professor Anita Hill who thirty years ago faced an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee—led by the then, Senator Joe Biden—to testify that her boss, Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, had sexuall...

Over the last few years, the figures around celibacy have generally been on the rise - particular amongst young women. What’s to be gained from making this life choice? And what should one know before deciding to become celibate? Anita speaks to sex therapist Danielle Bennett, and two women who have experience with celibacy. Laura Kennedy is in her 30’s and was celibate for six years. Shirley Yane...

Our specially commissioned poll to celebrate Woman’s Hour at 75 looks at women and equality in the UK today. It finds the place that women feel the most unequal is in the home, at work in terms of pay and benefits and in terms of safety due to their experience of sexual exploitation and abuse. Emma Barnett talks about the issues raised with our panel including the author Jeanette Winterson, the co...

Mina Smallman, the mother of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, the sisters who were murdered in a North London park last year, speaks to us about her grief and women's safety. She also talks about wanting to reach out to Sarah Everard’s mother because of the particular type of grief they share. She also reminds us of the type of people her daughters were. We get the latest from the Conservative Par...

We hear from Professor Anita Hill who thirty years ago faced an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee—led by the then, Senator Joe Biden—to testify that her boss, Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, had sexually harassed her. It was a landmark moment for these issues and inspired countless women to come forward with their stories, to file complaints, and even to run for office;...

Is the Police institutionally misogynistic? It's the question that's been raised now that a police WhatsApp group has come to light which Wayne Couzens was part of. It contained offensive messages. We also know that another police officer called PC David Carrick has been charged with rape. Plus there have been reports of 26 Metropolitan police officers committing sex crimes since 2016. Janet Hills...

Zoe Billingham, one of the top inspectors at Her Majesty’s of Constabulary, and Dame Vera Baird, the Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales on the reaction to further details about Sarah Everard's murder and the subsequent life prison sentence handed down to the former Met Police officer Wayne Couzens. Intergenational friendships, how is it different from being friends with someone your own a...

Are you in an intergenerational friendship? Anita speaks to Emily who’s 33 and her best friend Sue who’s 60 about the unique benefits of friendships across the ages. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has admitted that trust in the police force has been "shaken" by the murder of Sarah Everard. So where do we go from here? And what support is there for the bereaved families who have...